Pony heart, Dragon blood, body of Metal

Chapters

Chaos and Harmony
Metal Sonic, Metal Spike
Ponyville and old friends
Nightmare Night and Angel Island
Exploring the Island in the Heavens
Rainbow's new pet: Shadow meets Cadence
Spike's Birthday
Return to Ponyville-a lesson about appearances

Chaos and Harmony

Spike's theme later on:

To see the pony designs, please look up s2sonic on Deviantart!

Unknown Planet: Angel Island

An egg-shaped man with a gigantic reddish-brown mustache sat in a grey egg-shaped floating pod that had four canisters on each side filled with a dark liquid. On the bottom was what seemed to be a laser cannon.

"There's no way to win, Sonic Heroes. Finally, I will be rid of you and will be able to build my Eggman Empire! Even you, Shadow. Ever since you've joined G.U.N., you've become a real thorn in my side." The man said, looking down from his pod at a pedestal on the floating island where a giant, green emerald sat. Next to the emerald was a large-red, biplane. In front of it was a bipedal blue hedgehog with green eyes and red sneakers and white gloves. He had two spines on his shoulders, an six spines on his head-in three rows of two. He did not have fur on his chest, stomach, or arms.

Behind him was another hedgehog, but this one was black with red stripes on his quills, around his eyes, on his arms, and legs. He had white gloves and black, red, and white shoes, and had golden rings around his wrists and ankles. A white tuft of fur spiked from his chest-and his red eyes showed nothing but boredom.

To the blue hedgehog's right was a bipedal yellow-orange fox with white and red sneakers and white gloves. He had sky-blue eyes and two tails-each tipped with white fur and his stomach and chest was covered by white fur.

To the blue hedgehog's left was a red echidna with purple eyes and a white upside-down crescent moon marking on his chest. He had white gloves (that looked more like mittens) that had two spikes on the knuckles and red and yellow sneakers.

"Oh? And why's that egghead?" The blue hedgehog asked, getting a small chuckle from the fox.

"EGGMAN! YOU KNOW MY NAME IS DOCTOR EGGMAN, SONIC! YOU DO THAT ON PURPOSE!" The man-Doctor Eggman-shouted.

"Do what egghead?" Sonic asked, as the fox finally fell to the ground laughing.

"But now..." Doctor Eggman said, pulling a lever on his pod down as a laser struck the floating island the four animals were on.

"I saved a little of the Hyper-Go-On Energy I drained from the Wisps using this on the island will have the energy react with the Master Emerald and send you to another dimension. Now normally I would be worried, since Sonic can run fast enough to rip holes to parallel dimensions, but I won't have to worry at all. This is not a parallel dimension. According to my calculations, only Hyper-Go-On Energy reacting with the Master Emerald will create a passageway to and from that dimension...and there are no Wisps in that dimension! Once you four are gone, all I have do do is look for the Chaos Emeralds!" The man explained.

As the energy created a swirling portal around the island, the two hedgehogs nodded to each other and seven gems of seven different colors appeared around them.

"What?!" Doctor Eggman exclaimed, "You already had the seven Chaos Emeralds?!"

With that shout, the island and the animals on it were engulfed in the portal and disappeared with a loud boom.

"CURSE YOU SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!!!! I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!!!"

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Location: Canterlot-Royal Gardens

Six mares in their late teens and what appeared to be a small dragon boy stood staring at a large, white statue of a strange creature that looked like multiple different animals put together.

"Well done, My Little Ponies." a regal voice called out as two alicorn adults-one white and one blue-walked out and greeted them. The taller, white one ran her fingers over the statue and smiled warmly at the seven figures.

"Defeating Discord was no easy feat. Thou shalt be proud of thyselves!" The blue alicorn said, right before the ground shook and a swirling portal was seen out in the distance over a large body of water.

"What?" A purple unicorn said, recoiling in shock, "Another of Discord's tricks?"

"Whatever it was, we have to investigate." The white alicorn said, "I'll prepare a carriage for us to travel by. Wait here for my return."

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On the Island, the four figures had been knocked unconscious, and their bodies altered slightly, having grown to match their age (in the most cases). The 22 year old blue hedgehog had gone from 3' 3" to a startling 5' 7". The 18 year old fox was now 5' 1", and the echidna and black hedgehog were about the same size as the blue hedgehog. From the thick vegetation came a blue, silver, and yellow robot that seemed to be a copy of the blue hedgehog with glowing red eyes.

"Soon, my loathsome copy. Soon I will prove my superiority as the one true Sonic!" The machine spoke in a gravelly voice. "More inferior life-signs approaching. It seems you are spared today, my copy, but after I gain more information on this world, I will be back to destroy you and build the Metal Empire!"

With that, a turbine on its back flared to life and it was sent skywards in a blast of purple fire, before vanishing at Mach 5 speeds.

"What was that thing?!" a feminine, yet rough voice said, a a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane and tail walked out with the others-the two alicorns, two unicorns, two earth ponies, another pegasus, and the small dragon boy.

"I have no idea. Yet we must be cautious. To speak of building an empire is no small feat." The white alicorn said, staring at the spot it used to be.

A yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail walked over to the animals and knelt down by them. "Do you think they're okay? That thing could have hurt them." She said, feeling their wrists for a pulse while the white Alicorn was levitating a red gem in front of her.

"Most worrisome....this is filled with Chaos Energy, similar to what Discord uses...but it's....different." She said, gazing upon it with a purple eye.

"How is it different?" The purple unicorn asked, standing ready for anything.

"I can feel that they've been used for evil....yet more often than not, been used to stop that evil. It's like if Discord was good instead of using his powers for evil." The white alicorn explained, and a groan was heard, making the yellow pegasus jump back as the blue hedgehog stood up and opened his green eyes.

There was a small dragon-boy with purple and green scales and emerald green eyes, wearing simple black pants and a white shirt, along with eight bipedal mares, one of which was inspecting the red Chaos Emerald. The two with wings and horns were obviously royalty of some kind-with elegant dresses and jewelry. The white one ore an off-white dress with gold jewelry, and the blue one had an almost-black dress with grey jewelry.

There were white and purple unicorns, both with purple mane and tails, although the white one wore fancier clothes (a white dress, the other had blue pants and shirt), and there were two equines without horns or wings. One was completely pink (even her clothes) and the other was orange with a blonde mane and tail wearing blue jeans and a denim shirt. The two pegasus were as different as night and day, one was yellow with a pink mane and tail and had an air of shyness and insecurity wearing a long green dress, the other was cyan with a rainbow mane and tail with sports clothes and had an air of confidence...it was almost looking like a female, equine version of himself.

"What are you doing with the Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked, "And just who are all of you...huh. I guess Baldy McNosehair did some good by trapping us within a life-supporting dimension."

"Chaos Emerald?" The white alicorn asked, and Sonic closed his eyes and the red emerald was drawn away from her, joining up with a green, cyan, blue, white, purple, and yellow emerald circling around him.

"Now how did Knuckles say it?...Oh yeah! Now I remember! The Servers are the Seven Chaos...Chaos is Power...Power enriched by the Heart....The Controller is the one who unifies the Chaos..." The Hedgehog recited, before a groan broke his concentration and-before anyone could blink-he was by the fox's side.

"H-He's fast!" The cyan pegasus exclaimed, "I-I've never met anyone who could move that fast. I didn't even see him move!"

"Are you okay, Tails?" Sonic said as the fox stood up and shook his head.

"I'm fine Sonic, although it looks like Knuckles and Shadow are still unconscious." Tails said, looking at the echidna and other hedgehog.

"Not really" An almost-bored sounding voice said as the black-and-red hedgehog stood up, his red eyes gazing upon the nine figures in front of them. "This is new."

"As long as they leave the Master Emerald alone, I have no problem with them." The voice came from the red echidna as he stood up, a frown marring his face. "And just who are they?"

"I don't know. They were here when I woke up, but they haven't introduced themselves...kinda rude if you ask me!" Sonic said.

"Forgive thy rudeness, strange beings, Thy am Princess Luna of Equestria-ruler of the Night." The blue alicorn said.

"And I am Princess Celestia of Equestria-ruler of the Day." The white alicorn said.

"I'm Spike the dragon! Personal assistant of The element of Magic-Twilight Sparkle." The dragon-boy said.

"And...." Celestia said, a small smirk on her face.

At this the dragon seemed to blush and avoid eye contact. "Prince of Equestria, adopted son of Princess Celestia." With that all but Luna, Celestia, and the purple unicorn looked at him in shock and yelled "A PRINCE?!"

At this the dragon frowned, "It's not like I want to be revered for being a prince."

A cough from the black hedgehog got everyone's attention and reminded them that they were waiting for introductions to finish.

The pink mare jumped up first "Oh! Oh! Oh! My name's Pinkie Pie! I'm the Element of Laughter! Do you like parties?ILOVEparties!IshouldmakeawelcometoEquestriapartywhenwegetback!"

"Okay....." The fox said, backing up slightly.

The white unicorn mare calmly walked up next. "I, darlings, am Rarity, Element of Generosity...what happened to your clothes?! I simply just make you a new outfit when we get to Ponyville!"

"As long as the shoes stay...though I don't think shirts will work for me or Shadow." Sonic said, turning so his back was facing them, "The spines would rip through them. They also must not restrict movement...I do love to run."

Those words made the cyan pegasus perk up her ears.

"Finally! Another person in Ponyville who loves speed!" At this exclamation everyone was looking at her, and the blue hedgehog was smirking.

"I am Rainbow Dash, best flyer out of Cloudsdale, fastest pegasus in Ponyville, and Element of Loyalty." She said, holding out her hand.

Sonic grasped it and shook it firmly. "Now that's cool!" He said, and Rainbow's eyes widened. No snappy remarks about her mane and tail? No comments about not being girly? Maybe this guy would be a cool friend!

"I'm Applejack." The orange earth pony said next, "Part of the Apple family who supplies Ponyville their apples and Element of Honesty."

"So there are no grapes?!" The echidna exclaimed in horror, before being slapped upside the head by the black hedgehog.

"Oh don't ya worry your head. There are grapes in town." Applejack said, making the echidna sigh in relief.

"Good. I grew up eating grapes. I don't thing I could just...stop..." He said.

"I...I'm Fluttershy." The yellow pegasus said quietly, "E-element of...kindness."

"And I am Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and Element of Magic." The purple unicorn said. "The six of us who said we are an element make up the Elements of Harmony...now, not to be rude but just what is this Island and who are you four?"

"I'm Knuckles the Echidna. Guardian of Angel Island-where we are right now-and the Master Emerald that keeps it floating in the sky." The red echidna said with a proud tone, "I'm the powerhouse of Team Sonic. I'm able to smash apart boulders and steel with my bare fists." To show this, he smashed a nearby boulder in a single punch.

"Tough feller, aren't ya?" Applejack said.

"I am Shadow the Hedgehog. The Ultimate Life-Form!" The black hedgehog said, "Speedster of Team Dark-a three person team composed of people with a dark past seeking a better future.Agent of G.U.N., the Guardian Units of Nations." Before turning his back towards them.

"Well you could at least smile when meeting new friends." Pinkie Pie said.

"I don't smile. Not after what I saw." He said, making Pinkie Pie gasp.

"I. Will. Make. You. Smile! If it's the last thing I do!" She exclaimed, pointing at him, making him scoff.

"Moving on." The fox interrupted. "I'm Miles Prower...but all my friends call me Tails! I'm the inventor and flyer of Team Sonic."

"Flyer? But foxes can't fly!" Fluttershy said, only for everyone to gasp in surprise as Tails spun his two tails and was lifted into the air.

"Most foxes don't have two tails!" Tails exclaimed proudly.

"Now it's my turn!" The blue hedgehog said, before blurring out of sight and reappearing behind the group of Equestrians. "What you see is what you get. I'm just a guy who loves adventures! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and speed is my game! I'm the speedster of Team Sonic!"

"That's an understatement. I've recorded him moving faster than the speed of light...which is 299,792,458 meters per second! Or 670,616,629 Miles Per Hour!" Tails said, and Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in shock, as well as every other Equestrian there.

"It's not like I want to always move that fast! I only do so in a last resort when I have to rip into parallel dimensions! For a nice run, I love moving at an average of 765 miles per hour, three miles per hour slower than the speed of sound...though I CAN break the sound barrier in mere seconds." Sonic said, stretching out his legs.

"HOW?! How can you go that fast?!" Twilight exclaimed, she had a hard enough time trying to calculate Rainbow Dash's speed at times!

"Simple! I'm....way past cool!" Sonic said, and with that statement Rainbow Dash's wings popped open-stiff as a board.

"Not. A. Word." She growled out as the other five mares who introduced themselves as the "Elements of Harmony" giggled at the sight.

"By the way, who was that look-a-like with red eyes?" Applejack said, and the smirk fell from Sonic's face.

"There's only one being that looks like me, and I hope to every deity I know that IT isn't here!" Sonic said, and the others looked at each other in worry.

"Who or what is it?" Spike asked, scratching his head.

"My robotic copy, Metal Sonic. A machine built by Doctor Eggman-a man who constantly tries to take over my world and the one I called 'Baldy McNosehair'- to counteract my abilities. However, it is so obsessed with proving its superiority and its belief that I'M its copy, that it has become my polar opposite. Where I go saving people....it's trying to enslave them. It can move up to five times the speed of sound....and..there are times I believe it is evil incarnate. If it's here...then the whole world is in trouble!" Sonic said clenching his fist.

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"Data collected." a gravelly tone spoke. "The life-forms known as 'dragons' stay in a young form for long periods of time, only growing with greed or in a life-or-death situation where no one can help them-like an orphan being attacked." With that, Metal Sonic calmly walked forward where a pile of dead dragons lay.

"These dragons would not bow down to their Master, and had to be dealt with. However, a life-form approaching the island matched the dragons here. Only logical conclusion is that one of the life-forms was a dragon. However, it would not be as able to defend itself as effectively as these dragons and would be easier to capture. If I could force it to grow through battle...yes...I would then free him from his prison of flesh to become the personal guard of this world's Metal Overlord." Metal Sonic said, "First step is to establish a base of operations. Once it is done and my Metal Dragon is complete.....All living things will kneel before their master!"

Author's Note

As I said, the pairings for Shadow and Tails are to be determined....by you readers!

What do you want? (pick between A & B as well as C & D)

A) Shadow + Twilight

B) Shadow + Pinkie Pie

C) Tails + Fluttershy

D) Tails + Twilight

BEFORE you talk about "Game Theory" and how "Sonic is slow"....listen to my points:

A) They were comparing 1-1 in Mario, a mostly FLAT zone to Act 1 of Green Hill Zone, a place where you have to jump up and change levels...and with loops.

B) If you look at the background-you will see you are passing by multiple waterfalls a far distance apart-meaning that the area is bigger than how it is scaled.

C) They CAN'T have Sonic moving extremely fast in the Video Games....otherwise they'd have to make the background and level a blur....and no one would be able to react in time to obstacles, so they had to slow down Sonic (still, crossing an entire Island in Sonic Adventure 2 in three minutes-Mission4-that wasn't a small island.) to have the player react to things around them.

D) He was fast enough to stay moving when TIME ITSELF was frozen....AND pull his PAST self to his location (Sonic Generations).

Metal Sonic, Metal Spike

Canterlot Castle: a couple hours after "initial contact"

"So tell me more about this....Metal Sonic." Princess Celestia said as she and the others sat around a table in the castle. Some other familiar guests had joined them as well. Shining Armor-Twilight Sparkle's brother and Captain of the Royal Guard was sitting next to his fiance, Princess Cadence-Twilight's old foal-sitter. Prince Blueblood was also in attendance, he got along fine with Spike, though the glares shot between him an Rarity made everyone place them as far away from each other as possible.

Rarity was still upset about the whole "Gala Incident", while Blueblood had been irritated about the shallow reason for her infatuation.

"Metal Sonic....He's a nightmare to deal with." Sonic said, "Besides the stuff I mention before-about him being able to go five times the speed of sound, he can be very meticulous and have long drawn-out plans and can quickly learn to cover any weakness."

"If you'll allow me, Sonic." Tails interrupted.

"Sure, go ahead buddy. You're better at this explanation stuff than I am." Sonic said, giving Tails a thumbs-up.

"Metal Sonic is equipped with a 255 cc 4 Valve Fusion Engine that has a max output of 55ps/600 rpm and a maximum torque of 7.54 kg-m/4000 rpm...in other words, he can put out a lot of power. He also has rocket-powered flight. He was designed to counter Sonic, so his standard attacks include Sonic's signature Spin-Dash and homing attack, the later allowing him to rocket towards enemies and strike multiple times in mid-air. However, on top of that, he has a laser gun stored in his chest that he can fire at any time and the impenetrable Black Shield for defense. Also, he has what is called the 'Maximum Overdrive' attack, where he overloads his circuits to create a glowing energy field around him that can burn through pretty much anything." Tails explained.

"No wonder you called me." Shining Armor said, "Without warning, I highly doubt even the Royal Guard could deal with that thing."

"That isn't the most powerful ability Metal Sonic has." Tails said, and everyone outside of Sonic's group looked at him. What could be more powerful than the previously mentioned abilities?

"Metal Sonic has the uncanny ability to 'Scan and Copy' data from others, allowing him to flawlessly replicate any ability he has seen." Tails said, and everyone felt a deep pit settle in their stomachs. "Also, obtaining enough power transforms him to more-powerful forms...the most powerful we've ever seen was a gigantic dragon-like monster called the Metal Overlord. It took Sonic, Knuckles, AND me working together in the Super Form given by the Seven Chaos Emeralds to defeat it....and THAT was with NINE other people helping distract it!"

Without warning, an explosion rocked the castle and a couple guards went flying into the room, with a bunch of orange egg-shaped robots with lances running through the now opened door.

"Egg Pawns!" Knuckles said, rising to his feet. "Metal Sonic must have had some of Eggman's robots on Angel Island hidden away."

As the Equestrians ran to a more secure location and the four heroes from Sonic's world headed face-first to the swarm of Egg Pawns, no one noticed the gleaming red eyes watching from the shadows.

"Now if any break through, we won't have to worry about being surrounded." Celestia said, as they were in a dead-end hallway with their backs to the wall.

"Not that it will help you." A metallic, gruff voice said, and in a blur, standing before them was Metal Sonic itself. "Hand over the dragon or be destroyed."

"We won't let you take Spike!" Rainbow Dash said, flying forward as fast as she could-intent on knocking over the robotic menace. Right before she made contact, Metal Sonic crossed its arms and a diamond-shaped black energy field sprung up around it. Rainbow Dash hit the shield and was knocked head-first through a wall.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled out, and Metal Sonic turned to face the remaining conscious Equestrian citizens.

"You are all fools to defy your Master when you are clearly outmatched. You living beings are very illogical."

Inside what looked like a large hole in his chest, a yellow light started glowing, and everyone realized in horror that he was preparing to fire the laser stored in his chest.

"STOP!" Spike yelled out, running in front of the group. "I won't let you hurt them! If....if you promise not to harm them...I....I'll surrender."

"Spike NO!" Twilight said, "We can..."

"He was toying with us!" Spike said, "I can see it in his posture. It's like Discord's before we entered the maze."

"You have come to the correct logical conclusion, dragon." Metal Sonic said, his sharp metal fingers grasping onto the left arm of the dragon. "Until my plans for you are completed, you have my word that no harm will come to these creatures with you."

With those words, Metal Sonic landed a swift blow to the back of Spike's head, knocking him unconscious before he held him under an arm.

"However, as soon as my Metal Dragon is completed, me and my servant will come to build the Metal Empire." Metal Sonic said, making Celestia and everyone's eyes widen in horror. "He will be freed from his prison of flesh, and gain perfection. Until next time."

"NO!!!" Celestia said, her horn glowing and eyes blazing in fury as she shot a spell at Metal Sonic, only for him to disappear. "My..son...WE HAVE TO FIND HIM!" She exclaimed.

Right after she said that, did a blur run in and stop revealing Sonic. "All this was a distraction! He knew we would fight off the intruders to protect you....and we fell for it!" Sonic said, punching a wall as Rainbow Dash finally pulled herself out of the wall.

"But how? How can we find him?" Twilight asked and Sonic's eyes narrowed.

"I'm called the fastest thing alive where I'm from. If Shadow and I can go out looking for him, we could locate Metal Sonic's base of operations and come back here, teleporting everyone to it using Chaos Control." Sonic said, and as soon as Celestia gave a nod of approval, the two hedgehogs were off, one leaving a blue streak behind him, the other yellow.

Unknown location

Spike was thrown down to the hard ground, bouncing slightly upon impact.

"Now you will grow or you will die." Metal Sonic's voice was harsh and cold, no emotion showing in his eyes. The robotic copy of Sonic brandished its claws and charged at him, leaving a gash on Spike's chest as he tore away skin, scales, and flesh.

"Why are you doing this?!" Spike said, grasping his wound.

"Dragons grow when they are filled with greed or when their life is in danger. You will grow or die." Now the strike was across his left eye, blinding him on one side. Before he could react Metal Sonic had slashed across his left arm and across the back of his lower legs. Spike could feel something within him, burning like a wildfire.

"Power output from the dragon growing. Growth imminent." Metal Sonic said as he watched Spike's body shift. Two large, powerful wings burst from his back, with purple scales and a green membrane a similar color to his underbelly. His body elongated, growing more lanky, yet firm like a teenager who was on a running team. His snout grew longer and the spines on his head became slightly more spiked.

With a roar of rage, the newly grown Spike launched a breath of glowing orange flames from his mouth at Metal Sonic, who blurred away from it and his eyes started glowing.

"Life-form data....successfully copied." Metal Sonic said, before the grey metal section where his mouth would be opened and a stream of flames was launched at Spike who-thanks to the injuries still present-could not dodge and was knocked back and fell flat on his back.

Metal Sonic was picking up the scales on the ground that had been ripped off Spike's body. "Scanning...scales are mostly fire-proof except to another dragon's fire and provide immunity to lava....scanning....data successfully copied."

As Spike glared at Metal Sonic, who had attacked him for no real good reason, Metal Sonic stood gazing down at him. "In twenty-four hours, you will be completely free of your prison of flesh."

Spike's eyes widened in horror before Metal Sonic slammed a fist into Spike's head-once again rendering him unconscious. Once that was done, Metal Sonic dragged him deep into a cave near where he had killed the other dragons.

It had been nearly 18 hours since Spikes abduction and Luna's moon hung high in the air. However, no one was asleep. The were all gathered in the main throne room huddled together, silent as the grave.

A green flash lit up the room and the two hedgehogs dropped from the flash of light and everyone surrounded them.

"The good news is that we found Metal Sonic's base....and the two of us startled him into abandoning Spike and his base. He wasn't ready to fight us...because apparently the jump between dimensions greatly damaged him-he couldn't set up his Maximum Overdrive attack without nearly shutting down."

"That's great news!" Celestia said, falling into her throne while letting out a sigh of relief.

"And...the bad news?" Luna hesitantly asked.

"The bad news" Shadow said, "is that Metal Sonic copied Spike's scales and fire-breathing abilities and that....Spike....wasn't completely unaffected by Metal Sonic."

"Can you....take us to him?" Celestia asked, the last words worrying her. Sonic and Shadow nodded to each other, Shadow lifting the green Chaos Emerald and Sonic lifting the cyan one.

"Chaos....Control!" They both shouted and the inhabitants vanished in a flash of light.

They reappeared in a dark, dank cave. However, the cave wasn't what got everyone's attention. It was the metal surgical table with a familiar dragon that had been modified...The dragon's head had been almost completely changed into a shape similar to Metal Sonic-with the same color , with the only thing different was the "ears" of Metal Sonic being absent. Only his snout and right eye remained the same, as did the ear fins. His left eye was now a black screen. Even his spines had been changed into metal, and the spines on the back of his head had been removed. The head was rounded in the back and it had three spines protruding from it, one at the top and one on each side near his shoulder. His chest had been completely covered in metal, similar to Metal Sonic-even with the opening with yellow metal around it in his chest and a turbine with a blue covering the top of it protruding from his back. The metal went down to right above his waist. In fact, only his right arm and wings remained flesh-and-blood above his waist and below his snout.

His left arm was completely changed into a copy of Metal Sonic's and the dragon's knees had become metal joints and the lower legs and feet had become an exact copy of Metal Sonic's. He had grown beforehand, now looking like a dragon in their late teens, and he was blissfully unconscious.

"Oh Spike..." Celestia said, picking up his-surprisingly light-body and holding her adopted son close.

Tails, in the meantime, was investigating a small computer in the meantime. "We got lucky. He was only 75% changed." Tails said.

"ONLY?!" the Equestrians yelled at him.

"He still has all of his internal organs are still in him, but nearly all of them are aided by machines...only his....reproductive system....is untouched." Tails said, a light blush on his face.

"So...he can still have foals....or hatchlings...of his own." Celestia said.

"Yes. BUT that's where the good news about his changes ends...if someone tried to revert any of the changes....it'll kill him."

Silence met this declaration. Spike had been "cursed" by Metal Sonic to be over half-robot for the rest of his life! The ponies eyes blazed in silent rage.

"The good news is that the change has caused Metal Sonic to make a mistake, he prematurely downloaded data on his own abilities into Spike thinking no one would find him before the process was complete! Spike can still think like you or me, but he has access to the chest laser, Black Shield, and Maximum Overdrive attacks....as well as Metal Sonic's ability to scan and copy data. Also, he infused the metal he 'created' 'Metal Spike' with the scales from Spike himself. The only real difference is that his maximum speed is only listed at Mach 2-two times the speed of sound." Tails explained, and everyone's eyes widened in amazement, before darkening.

"Metal Dragon...He was trying to turn Spike into a dragon version of himself!" Celestia shouted, and Spike's eye widened before a red eye lit up on the black screen replacing his left eye as the shout startled him awake.

"M..mom..." Spike whispered...

"Shh...Spike...it's okay...you're safe." Celestia said, holding him close as the others gathered around him.

"I...I was awake when he did...this...I felt everything! It...hurt...why did he choose me?" Spike asked, and this declaration made people's eyes widen in horror. Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Prince Blueblood fainted just thinking about it.

Metal Sonic had just done something that had not been done in a long time....he had incurred the wrath of Princess Celestia.

"Get the presses ready. Tomorrow morning, Metal Sonic's actions against royalty will be announced to the public and Metal Sonic will be declared an enemy of Equestria." Celestia said, standing up and gazing at Sonic.

"Sonic. You have the most experience fighting him. I'll need you to talk to our guard force, any possible weakness, I'll need you to tell them everything!" She said, and he nodded to her, gazing at Spike.

"Metal...many times I've tried to end him only for him to slip away...now it's time to put that creep down for good." Sonic said, punching his right fist into his other hand.

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"Probability of location was only 4%. Damage done by dimensional portal disabled Maximum Overdrive and lowered system output. Probability of winning against my copy in current condition is 40%. Not high enough, probability drops to 20% with inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog." Metal Sonic said as he blazed across mountains in Equestria.

"Legends tell of a mirror pool that creates copies of whoever looks into it. Current mission will be to rest the 72 hours while my system repairs itself before seeking out the mirror pool. The increase of troops as strong as me will increase the chance of success of creation of the Metal Empire jumps to 98%."

Author's Note

Here we are, chapter 2!

Personally, I hated myself writing this, but the title (and the idea of the whole story) was bouncing around in my head for a while...this is why I put the "DARK" tag in.

The poll is still up, by the way.

Any fanart is accepted, please just message me with a link! It may be featured in later chapters!

Ponyville and old friends

Two chapters in one day...don't get used to this...my muse is really going right now...though the chapter title DID go through many changes!

The next morning Celestia's sun shone brightly as it rose in the sky. Spike's red eye flared to life seconds before his right one opened. Shaking his head, he went to open the window, only to pause when he saw his reflection. The blue of his metal was a stark contrast to his purple scales, but they did not clash, but the two colors seemed to "combine"...no doubt that Metal Sonic would have made him mostly blue like it was itself.

"This is so disorientating. Through my right eye...my original eye...I can see everything the color it is supposed to be...but me left eye has almost everything in a shade of red." Spike said, glaring at his reflection. It glared back and Spike almost shivered at the glowing, red, eye shining back at him.

"Metal Sonic...." Spike whispered, as he remembered the emotionless eyes looking down upon him. "Why can't you accept that YOU are Sonic's copy....why did you decide to become a conqueror?"

"Question of the century." A familiar voice said from behind him, and Spike turned to look at Shadow. "You could tell Metal Sonic to his face that he was Sonic's copy and all that he would say is that your statement held no logic. Metal Sonic has been outraced by Sonic, and yet he does not learn. Yet when it comes to battle and diabolical plans, he is a genius."

"It is illogical!" Spike said, eyes widening when he realized what came out of his mouth, "Err....I mean it does not make sense! One would think he'd learn by now!"

"I know what you mean" Shadow said, walking over to look at the rising sun. After a few seconds he closed his eyes.

"I used to wonder what it was like on the surface of my planet. I spent the beginning years after my creation locked on board the space colony floating above it. I would watch the world below with the Professor's granddaughter-my only friend-Maria and ponder why I was created. What my purpose was. What it was like on the planet below. A few years later I discovered just how cruel life could be when everything I knew was taken away from me."

Spike pondered those words before Shadow reopened his eyes and looked at Spike. "You are like me."

"What?" Spike asked.

"We did not deserve what happened to us, and yet it did. The only thing left for you to do is move on." Shadow said, before walking out of the room, leaving Spike to ponder those words.

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Sonic yawned loudly as he stretched before hopping out of bed and pulling his clothes on-including his gloves and shoes. He glanced at the rising sun and smiled. "Well well, looks like its another good day. Hope it doesn't get to boring."

Walking out of the room, he saw Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo already at the table eating some kind of breakfast.

"Morning!" Sonic greeted, "It seems today's gonna be way past beautiful!"

"Morning....dad..." Scootaloo hesitantly greeted and Sonic smiled before ruffling her hair slightly.

"Oh come on! You don't have to be so hesitant around me! By the way, how are your wings?" He asked and Scootaloo unfolded her wings, which now looked slightly bigger.

"Are you sure you're not part-unicorn? Because only a unicorn could pull of magic like that. I can even hover a little bit now...but it tires me out quickly." The filly said and Sonic smiled slightly.

"You get tired quickly because your muscles in your wings are not used to being worked." Sonic said, sitting at the table and grabbing a little breakfast himself.

"My friends and I are going to meet today and I was wondering..." Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash said nothing, this was a bonding time and she knew it.

"You want me to meet with your friends?" Sonic asked, a small smirk on his face.

"Yes!"

"Well then, I don't have anything else planned. I can go as soon as you're ready." Sonic said, and the little filly rushed off to pack.

"Ah...I remember when I was that naive." He said, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"Don't you mean young?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Heh. You're only as old as you feel!" Sonic said.

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"So where was the last place you spotted this thing?" A male griffin holding an axe said to a female one. The female was once Rainbow Dash's best friend-Gilda.

"It was over here somewhere." She replied, "Now normally I wouldn't bother with pony issues but this thing has a big price on its head."

"You should have been afraid." A metallic voice called from the shadows. "Now you will face the might of the Metal Empire!"

Without warning, the two griffins found themselves surrounded. There were ten yellow robots shaped like scorpions with a spiked metal ball on the tip of its tail (Skorp). There were twenty red ladybug-like robots with sharp yellow claws on the front balancing on a single wheel with a rocket booster on each side (Moto bug). There were twenty wasp-like robots with red heads, black bodies, and yellow and black striped abdomens with a laser blaster on it. They were propelled by two rocket engines (Buzzer). As the robots bombarded the two griffins, they found themslves unable to counteract the numbers. The Skorps extended their tails, using the spike ball to slam into their foes. The Moto bugs moved quickly at 100 miles per hour, slicing at them with their claws while the Buzzers fired and struck at them with their lasers. Gilda managed to fly up-though badly injured and fly off. She never noticed the gleaming red eyes as Metal Sonic emerged from the forest to stop in front of the other griffin-who could barely move.

"This adventure for you will end in agony." It said, raising its clawed hand.

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Spike wandered around town-having been given the day off by Twilight to "readjust". He could hear every whisper, see all the uncomfortable looks, he felt disgusted with himself for having surrendered to Metal Sonic so easily in Canterlot...but if he hadn't everyone he knew and loved would have been killed.

It was tough to cope, knowing that you surrendered to an enemy to save lives-yet if their plan was successful YOU would have been used to kill the very same ponies you saved.

"Watch out!" A filly's voice yelled, and Spike jumped out of the way to see the Sweetie Bell buzz past in a red biplane-the plane flying high into the air.

"She is so in trouble when Rarity finds out" Sonic said, tapping his foot with Tails looking anxious.

"What is that?" Spike asked.

"That is my biplane-the Tornado. Tails is the one who usually flies it." Sonic explained, " The 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'-as Scootaloo and her friends call themselves-said something about 'cutie marks' and then...Sweetie Bell spotted the Tornado when my back was turned while we visited Tails and Fluttershy. We only knew when Scootaloo shouted for her to stop!"

"We need to get her down-but only Sonic and I know how to fly the Tornado! Sonic can't fly and I can't gain enough momentum flying to catch up quick enough." Tails said, looking at Spike. "Wait a minute....Spike, listen to my instructions carefully!"

"THIS IS SO AMAZING!" Sweetie Bell yelled from inside the cockpit the Tornado, the town quickly becoming a speck on the ground. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PLANE FLIERS GO!" She yelled, before realizing her two friends were still on the ground-the noise from the propeller had drowned out their shouting. As she pulled on a lever to turn around, the plane flipped outside down and once it was too late did Sweetie Bell realize another problem.

She had not put on the safety harness.

Screaming as she fell, she fully expected to die the worst possible way-without a cutie mark! So when she suddenly felt herself going higher into the air she hesitantly opened her eyes, only to see Spike with his wings unfurled, a blast of purple flames from the turbine on his back lifting them into the air.

Grabbing onto the cockpit of the Tornado with his metal hand, he swung them around and harnessed both of them in. "Thank you Tails for the crash-course in flying the Tornado...though I do hope it is not literal." He said.

Grasping the lever with his hands, he pulled and flipped the plane back up to its proper position and gently pushed the plane down to land in town-lowering the landing gear as he did so.

A few ponies had to scurry out of the way, but the Tornado did land safely in the middle of town, before being shut off.

"SWEETIE BELL! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT MESSING WITH THINGS THAT DON'T BELONG TO YOU! YOU ALMOST DIED!" Rarity's shout cut through the cheering crowd.

"Oh horse-apples...." Sweetie muttered under her breath as they climbed out of the Tornado and Tails went over to inspect it. As Sweetie Bell tried to slink off through the crowd. However, she was cut off when a hand grasped her left arm and she turned to see her big sister with a positively livid expression on her face.

"Hi Rarity." She said quietly, but was cut off with a glare.

"You are in so much trouble, young lady!" She said, before turning to Spike.

"Oh thank you so much for saving my little sister Spike." She said.

"It's no big deal. I'm sure a pegasus would have helped if I had not been able to." Spike said, he could put his condition to good use! Then, his head suddenly jerked upwards. "There's someone coming!" With that shout, Spike leaped backwards as another living being crashed into the ground-just in time for Rainbow Dash to arrive.

"Gilda?!" She shouted, running over to her former friend. She did not look good, with holes, scratches and scorch marks all across her. The female griffin slowly opened her eyes and weakly asked "Rainbow...Dash?"

"What happened to you?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking over Gilda's injured form.

"Metal....Empire....ambushed..." She said before passing out.

"Metal Empire? No! It must have been Metal Sonic!" Sonic said, "Quick! Get her to a hospital!"

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The Buzzers, Skorps, and Moto bugs all were lined up, along with sixteen purplish-pink robots with wheels and sharp claws on the front-sharp spikes covering the back of it (Spikes), 100 Egg Pawns, twenty of what looked like red bombs with legs and grey helmets (Bomb), twenty floating yellow seahorse-shaped robots (Aquis), ten green praying mantis-like robots with sharp green claws (Slicer), twenty almost octopus-like robots with small arms on the bottom and a row of spikes at the top surrounding an energy projectile launcher (Spiny), ten blue and yellow versions of Skorps with laser guns in their tails (Sasori), and ten Grey rhino-shaped robots with two spikes on the front balancing on a single wheel (RhinoBot).

"This is all that remains of the Eggman Armada from Angel Island. Removal of Master Emerald had only a 20% chance of success at current time. Guardian Echidna would have sensed it.It must remain in its current location for now." Metal Sonic said as he emerged from the brush in the mountains somewhere in Equestria, looking at the robotic minions he had left.

"No matter. This Equine civilization is unused to combat, and will be easy to take over once the time is right. Then more minions will be freed from their prison of flesh. Once we have more soldiers, the takeover of the more militant civilizations could begin. For now, repairs are at 45%, but it still will require over 48 hours to finish. For now, all Metal Empire forces are to split into groups and search for the mythical mirror pool. Once it is located...." Metal's words trailed off as he stared in the direction of Ponyville-where his "copy" was located and clenched his fist as the robot forces spit into multiple groups and scattered across the forest.

Nightmare Night and Angel Island

Alright friends, it is time to move onto the next chapter. Shadow and Twilight are winning, and their poll will close next chapter. Now, remember, the "Tails Pairing" poll is CLOSED! However, there WILL be a new poll opening up soon! This is for the "Boss Fight" on "Hearts and Hooves Day" between Queen Chrysalis and Spike!

These are the two choices I have up.

Choice S. The Metal Sonic Rival Fight from "Sonic Generations" (Letter by title: Stardust Speedway remix)

Choice N. The theme of Metal Sonic from the Arcade "Sonic the Fighters", (Letter by title: Never Let It Go)

The choice is yours!

The next couple of weeks went by relatively normally-except for the time Twilight went crazy freaking out about not writing a friendship report. Of course, when Twilight started going about creating a problem to learn about and writing a friendship report to Princess Celestia about, Spike did what he later called "the logical" thing and wrote Princess Celestia about it. She later decreed that everypony-not just Twilight-would write her a report when they learned something about friendship.

Shadow the Hedgehog later admitted to Spike that (though he had remained straight-faced the entire time) seeing the normally-calm mare freaking out was kind of amusing, though not to the point where he found humor in her fears-as unfounded as they were.

Gilda the Griffon had remained in a coma after falling unconscious and was still in the Ponyville Hospital-though Rainbow Dash and Sonic visited her daily. With the words "Metal Empire" coming from her mouth before her coma-all of Equestria was on high alert for signs of Metal Sonic.

While everypony would have loved to tear that infernal machine apart (especially the griffon civilizations after the "unfounded" attack on one of their own), no one had spotted any sign of Metal Sonic.

Today, however, everypony (and Echidna, Hedgehog, or Fox) was decorating the town. Twilight was dressed up as Starswirl the Bearded, Spike...wasn't dressed except in his shorts, cape, and jacket. Sonic was dressed like a vampire-too many 'memories' to even consider being a werewolf, Rainbow Dash was dressed like one of Nightmare Moon's Shadowbolts, and Shadow was in his everyday outfit.

"So what is this holiday? It kinda looks like Halloween." Sonic said, and Tails ducked behind a building when he saw a decoration of a ghost. He had dressed as a mad scientist. Fluttershy-who Tails had gotten out of her house-was no better-as she was cowering behind everything she could find-the timid mare did not have enough courage to face her fears on a night named after an evil version of Princess Luna. She didn't even dress up.

"I don't know what Halloween is, but tonight is Nightmare Night. A night where young foals go house-to-house to get candy, and we leave candy behind as an offering so Nightmare Moon doesn't eat us." Rainbow Dash said.

"So basically it's this dimension's version of Halloween." Shadow said, as Pinkie suddenly jumped up behind the group yelling loudly-trying to frighten somepony. Shadow, however, just stood there with an "are you serious?" look on his face, especially after glancing at her chicken costume.

Scootaloo, however, had dressed as a werewolf-on Sonic's suggestion, and had gone off trick-or-treating with a chaperoned group of foals her age, including Sweetie Bell and Applebloom.

"By the way, we know about Fluttershy, but what's wrong with Tails?" Twilight asked watching the two hiding underneath a table.

Sonic frowned before spotting what had scared Tails so badly. "That explains it." Sonic said, pointing at the decoration, "He's afraid of ghosts, it's like my fear of being underwater-but I think I may have accidentally caused that fear."

This caused Shadow to raise an eyebrow. He had hung around the intelligent fox-and was impressed by his IQ score of 300, but he had never heard of Tails' fear of ghosts....though he did see that Tails was afraid of lightning.

"What do you mean, 'accidentally caused it'? How can you make someone afraid of ghosts?" Twilight asked.

"Well.....it was some time ago-one year after I met him." Sonic said, "We were traveling across Angel Island after stopping Eggman's 'Death Egg' from launching and he was trying to repair it. There was a desert-like area called Sandopolis Zone...and we had to explore a temple...."

Flashback

Sonic stopped as he saw a small, cute-looking ghost floating above his head just floating along, looking like it was lost. Tails had to stop suddenly, barely avoiding the (back then) plump, black-eyed hedgehog's spiny back.

"Dawww. Who's a cute little ghostie. You are! You are!" Sonic said, pointing a finger at the ghost.

"S-Sonic....I don't like this place." Tails said, his black eyes glancing around nervously, "I-it's really creepy."

Right after he said that, the lights in the temple started dimming.

"A-And it's getting REALLY dark in here. We should go!" Tails said, clasping his hands tightly together.

Sonic, on the other hand, closed his eyes and turned his head to Tails.

"Nonsense!" Sonic said, "Nothing will happen! Right ghostie?" He said. The temple was now almost pitch black.

In the place of the small, cute ghost was a monstrous, horned ghost with devilish purple eyes.

"Ghostie?" Sonic asked, stunned, as the ghost let out an angry cry and lunged at them.

Tails spun his two tails like a turbine and took off screaming "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!"

"T-Tails! Wait for me!" Sonic yelled, as he ran after him-the ghost chasing after both of them.

Flashback end

"Right....because going through a haunted temple at a young age isn't traumatizing at all." Twilight said with a blank look on her face as she tapped a hoof on the ground.

"What?! He wanted to come! And....I...have taken him to therapists." Sonic said, throwing his hands in the air before shaking his head. "By the way, nice wizard costume!"

"IT'S STAR-SWIRL THE BEARDED! ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS UNICORNS IN HISTORY!" She shouted.

"Sonic....You froze up a little when you told me about some watery areas you explored. Labyrinth Zone, Aquatic Ruins, Hydrocity zone, Aquarium Park...." Rainbow trailed off, "You went underwater in those areas, didn't you."

"Yeah." Sonic admitted, shrugging. "But can you blame me? I can't swim! I sink like a rock underwater and unlike 'Mr. Ultimate Life-Form' here." Sonic said, pulling Shadow next to him.

"Don't pull me into this." Shadow said, pushing away from Sonic.

"I cannot breathe underwater-so I have a great risk of drowning." Sonic finished, and Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in horror.

"What?" Sonic asked, seeing her expression, "I developed a trick where I can breath in air from large air bubbles underwater, and I learned how to jump multiple times underwater to rise to the surface. (Like in Sonic Colors) Also, I can run fast enough to run on the surface of the water."

"What? How is that...know what? I don't want to know." Twilight said, "I had too many problems trying to understand Pinkie Pie's 'Pinkie Sense' to even attempt to understand how that is possible."

After she said that, the door to the Library tentatively opened, and Spike peered out from the doorway. "Go on ahead guys, I think I'll sit this one out." He said, before shutting the door.

"Spike...."Twilight said, "What's the matter with you? You said that you've mostly accepted your permanent new appearance."

"Except that tonight is Nightmare Night...A night when ponies are so easily scared and illogical." Spike said from inside, "I'll just hand out candy."

"And you're letting that fear control you?" Sonic said, "In a way, you're letting Metal Sonic win. He's gotten a hold on your emotions! Are you gonna let that happen?"

With that, the door was flung open and Spike glared at them, his red eye gleaming in the dark night.

"Not. A. Chance. But you all owe me!" Spike said, pointing at them.

"Eh." Sonic shrugged, "I'll just let you copy my spin-dash later."

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Nightmare Night theme: Mystic Cave Zone

"I told you this was a bad idea." Spike said, as ponies continuously screamed and ran away in fright.

"Nah. That's because ponies are too obsessed with the 'Nightmare Moon' past of Princess Luna...who as you may forget, is standing right next to you." Sonic said, pointing a thumb at Princess Luna to Spike's right.

It had been a terrible time, as soon as Rainbow Dash left to go pull pranks by zapping ponies with a weak lightning bolt (and had gotten Knuckles multiple times), Princess Luna had arrived to connect with her subjects. Even Spike had been cornered by Zecora-who had to make sure Spike's growth before his partial "metalization" was not caused by greed.

However, Spike's statement soon proved correct because they all went running-screaming in terror as soon as they spotted Luna.

Fluttershy wouldn't even come out to speak to Luna properly-much to Tails' ire-who had no problem speaking to her. They had quickly solved Luna's 'Royal Canterlot Voice' problem, and tried including her in multiple games and activities. However, there was one constant problem.

Pinkie Pie.

The hyperactive mare kept stirring up mayhem whenever ponies started accepting Luna by making them think she was about to eat them....it was really starting to annoy both Luna AND Shadow.

"Thy am thinking of cancelling Nightmare Night forever if this keeps up" Luna finally admitted, much to the horror of Twilight.

"No way! That will completely alienate you from the public if you cancel a popular holiday!" Sonic said as Spike stood in front of her, holding his arms to the side as if he was trying to prevent her from moving.

"They want something to fear?" Shadow said, as his quills started glowing red slightly, "Then I'll give them something new to be afraid of." Right after he said that, he leaped in front of a group of ponies led by Pinkie Pie herself.

"Hi Shadow! You afraid of Nightmare Moon too? It's alright to be scared." She said.

"Quiet you fool! You're driving someone who wants to only be friends away for a pathetic reason!" With that, Shadow's eyes narrowed and yellow electricity started crackling around his hands.

"You want to be afraid? You should really be afraid.....of me. Chaos.....SPEAR! With that declaration, Shadow threw his right hand forward and a spear of lightning was launched at them.

All of the ponies started screaming as they scattered to avoid the attack, which exploded on the ground and left a small crater.

"Don't worry....I'll destroy all of you quickly." Shadow said, narrowing his eyes and sneering at them.

"Do it again!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

"....WHAT?!...." Shadow said, utterly confused.

"Duh! It's Nightmare Night! A night we all love to be scared!" She said, and he slapped his forehead.

"Luna...next time....don't come to socialize during a holiday about fear!" He said.

"But thy thought that since the holiday was about us...." She said, before her eyes widened.

"When thy subjects were screaming in terror, they weren't afraid of us! They were celebrating!" Luna realized.

"Exactly!" Pinkie Pie said, and chatters of agreement came from the ponies around them.

"Well then..." Luna said, here eyes narrowing as a smirk graced her face, "Best continue tradition!" With that, she let a loud, almost evil laugh out and flew off to chase others.

As she watched Luna fly off, Twilight Sparkle levitated a piece of parchment in front of her and pulled out a quill and started writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

When you first sent me to Ponyville, I didn't know anything about friendship. I met somepony tonight who was having the same problem -- your sister, Princess Luna! She taught me that one of the best things you can do with friendship is to give it to others, and help them find it themselves! And I'm happy to report that all of Ponyville has learned that even if somepony seems a little intimidating, even scary, when you offer them your friendship, you'll discover a whole new pony underneath. And even if my Star Swirl the Bearded costume didn't go over, this still turned out to be the best Nightmare Night ever!

"Alright Spike, time to send this note to Princess Celestia." She said, and Spike inhaled before launching a small green flame and teleporting the letter.

"Just be glad I can still do that after being turned 75% robot." Spike said.

"Actually, the correct term for someone who has both organic and robotic components is cyborg, but your statement is correct." Tails said, as he walked up.

"Ghost!" Someone shouted, making Tails scream in terror and fly off into a tree. Behind him stood Rainbow Dash, who did not have a lot of time to laugh before she was zapped by Princess Luna.

A small foal dressed as a pirate by the name of Pipsqueak ran up to her and declared "Luna, you are my most favorite princess EVER!" before running back off into the crowd. Luna smiled at the declaration. She was about to continue with her participation when Spike belched out a letter in a gout of green flames.

"Princess Luna...apparently we are needed at the library. A carriage is awaiting us there. We are being sent to investigate Angel Island." Twilight Sparkle said, "Wait here, we'll go get our friends."

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After a carriage landed on Angel Island, and everyone piled out, they really took the time to look around.

"So this large green gem is called the Master Emerald? It holds the entire island in the sky?" Rarity asked. How could a simple gem hold an entire island airborne?

"Ever since Tikal prevented it from being used for evil and sealed away Chaos, the Guardian God of the Chao, it has been the duty of my tribe to keep it safe. Even though I am the last of my tribe, I will continue the duty carried out by my ancestors." Knuckles said, looking over the Master Emerald.

"So, Spike....ready to learn the spin-dash?" Sonic asked, making everyone look at him in confusion-except for Twilight, Rainbow, and Shadow. Spike gave a firm nod and his red, left eye started to glow.

"Watch and learn!" Sonic said, before curling into a spiky ball and spinning in place, before suddenly zooming forwards.

"Spin-dash data....successfully copied." Spike droned out in an almost monotone voice before he curled and spun in a blue-and-purple ball and shot forward.

"Not bad!" Sonic said, uncurling the same time as Spike.

"Naturally, I am Twilight's assistant, I have to learn quickly!" Spike said, rubbing his right hand against the metal.

"So, Knuckles, what are some locations on this island?" Applejack asked him, glancing around.

"Well, this is the Altar of the Master Emerald. There's a tropical forest that has finally regrown since Eggman's forces burned it. Next we have Hydrocity zone, an underground city of ancient ruins halfway submerged in water." Knuckles said, but was cut off when Sonic started pacing while repeatedly mumbling.

"I don't have to go there again. I don't have to go there again."

"Okay...." Knuckles said, watching him, "We have the Marble Garden Zone, which is a hillside settlement...but it is prone to earthquakes and tremors. There is also, for some reason, a Carnival Night Zone."

"CARNIVAL?!" Pinkie Pie shouted, suddenly in his face.

"Get. Away. From. My. Personal. Space." Knuckles growled out, clenching his fists before Spike grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Thank you, Spike." Knuckles said, clearing his throat. "I don't really know how or why there's a 24-hour carnival on this island, but there is. There's also the IceCap Zone, a steep mountain always coated in snow with deep snowdrifts and massive caverns. There is the ruins of Eggman's Launch Base Zone-which was used to launch the Death Egg but it was not successful thanks to Sonic."

"No problem!" Sonic said, his chest puffing out in pride.

"I like relaxing in the Mushroom Hill Zone, where mushrooms of many sizes and shapes grow...HEY WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" Knuckles shouted the last part as Spike and Rainbow Dash broke down laughing.

"And why are the mushrooms so relaxing?" Rainbow asked.

"Actually" Sonic said, "Most of them are big enough to provide shade."

This quieted everyone.

"For once, thank you for that Sonic." Knuckles said as he took a deep breath, "There's the ruins of the Flying Battery Zone-one of Eggman's old warships, and we have Sandopolis Zone-a desert area with many ancient ruins, quicksand pits, and sheer cliff faces. There is also an ancient temple that is somehow haunted by light-fearing ghosts."

At this statement Tails was huddled up in a ball repeatedly muttering "The ghosts won't get me. The ghosts won't get me." While Fluttershy fussed over him.

"There's a volcanic mountain called Red Mountain, and deep inside it is the Lava Reef Zone. You shouldn't really explore it unless you have a fire-shield or are lava proof. That is since it has many huge magma pits and lava falls." Knuckles said.

"This Lava Reef sounds too dangerous for any pony to explore." Luna said, tilting her head.

"Trust me. I don't like going there myself." Knuckles said as he shook his head and continued, "I cannot show you where the Hidden Palace Zone is, as that is the ancient, secret temple built by the echidnas. One of my favorite places to really unwind is the Sky Sanctuary Zone. This Zone is made up of ruins that float in the sky and has teleporting orbs scattered across it. Finally there is the Wild Canyon-ruins of the echidna civilization...why does your Princess want to know about this island, by the way?"

"She was thinking of having the Summer Equestrian Games here-since Angel Island is now part of Equestria-if it was alright with you." Twilight Sparkle said, re-reading the letter.

Knuckles started growling, but stopped and took a deep breath.

"The best place would be the Mushroom Hill Zone since it is closer to the middle of the island, but we'd have to set up a teleporting station to reach the island from the land, a stadium would have to be built, and a safe passageway would need to be constructed." Knuckles said, thinking those things would deter the idea.

"Great! Glad you agree!" Twilight said, scribbling 'his answer' on a parchment and having Spike send it to Celestia.

Knuckles' eye twitched before he sighed in defeat.

"I'll go move the Master Emerald to the Hidden Palace Zone...might as well keep it out of sight if the public will be here."

Sonic's telling of the Sandopolis Zone temple was inspired by this comic.

Author's Note

Be sure to vote!

Exploring the Island in the Heavens

Okay, Shadow+Twilight won the poll...barely. Seven to Five. As for Pinkie Pie, well Sonic has a "little brother" in Tails, so why can't Shadow have a "little sister"? However, the newest music poll is tied between "S" and "N"-with one vote each. Be sure to check out the music last chapter and vote!

The reason I like putting polls up is to get the opinion of the viewing pubic, to include them! This story has (currently) 32 likes and 41 favorites. Well as Pinkie Pie once said: "Enough chit-chat, Time is candy", so let us move on!

After Knuckles had moved the Master Emerald (and subsequently locking every entryway to the Hidden Palace Zone), Applejack, Rarity, and Knuckles had returned by the carriage to their careers-Rarity's boutique in Ponyville and Knuckles and Applejack returning to Sweet Apple Acres. However, the others (which included Scootaloo, Princess Luna, and the remaining team) was left to explore Angel Island and make changes to it to prevent anypony from getting seriously hurt. This process took a couple weeks to accomplish-as not everypony could move at Rainbow Dash and Sonic's speed.

Meals were set up at camps three times a day, and Sonic kept using a Chaos Emerald's power on Scootaloo's food without her knowledge, and her wings had finally grown to the size they were supposed to be by the time they were finished on the Island.

There were plenty of changes in the tropical forest itself-as Eggman had left sharp, metal spikes protruding from the ground that ha to be covered up. Spike's sharp eyesight and motion sensors made seeking out areas that needed alterations easier, Rainbow Dash, Tails, and Fluttershy could get an aerial view of the Island (though Tails had to hold Fluttershy's hands to encourage her to fly), Pinkie Pie could randomly appear in areas they had missed. Shadow could teleport-along with Twilight-using Chaos Control, and Sonic led the exploration across the island in place of Knuckles, since he had run across most of the island himself. Princess Luna destroyed the Spikes or covered it using created walkways or ramps by using her magic.

There was also a problem of the spin-dash tubes, as the only ones who could spin-dash were Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Knuckles, and Spike. They were blasted out by Twilight and Luna and replaced by large tunnels. Spike would occasionally glance at Ponyville before shaking his head and continuing on.

Hydrocity Zone was closed off by magically-created blockades lowered in place by Rainbow Dash and Tails. With most of it being underwater and with as many spikes it was covered in, it just couldn't be explored safely by ordinary ponies. Marble Garden Zone was where Rainbow Dash and Sonic had their own adventure-running off to explore while an earthquake sealed it off from everyone else. Luckily enough, those two regrouped with the others in the Carnival Night Zone.

Although neither of them said anything, Rainbow Dash and Sonic became closer-as she carried Sonic before he fell to his death as the ground beneath his feet and for hundreds of miles ahead of him suddenly collapsed during an earthquake. He had quickly thanked her and the two set their feet (and hooves) firmly on the ground of Carnival Night Zone before the others arrived.

Carnival Night Zone...THAT was a place everypony had to literally drag Pinkie Pie from. More ramps and walkways were created to cover multiple spikes, and Pinkie Pie had taken it on herself to set up vendor locations for carrot dogs, cotton candy, etc. Needless to say, it was would be a popular area for ponies to visit.

IceCap Zone was a winter wonderland year-round, and Sonic got a chance to show off his snowboarding skills. There had to be many arctic-air vents that could freeze somepony solid blocked off and destroyed. There were also many moving platforms that threatened to crush anyone on it-those were destroyed by Luna, Twilight, and Shadow and replaced by stairs or supported tunnels. The pathway to the Launch Base Zone ruins were also closed off-though the only true pathways to it were through spin-dash tunnels.

Mushroom Hill Zone had a spot filled with spikes cleared out and flattened for the stadium that would go there. Spike pits were filled in and tunnels were created in their place. Knuckles' earlier statement came to their mind as they saw mushrooms-bouncing slightly in the wind-towering above their heads. It was humbling to see a normally small fungus so large. It was day three in week two at this point.

"Geez, good thing Rarity isn't here right now. She'd be complaining about how long this trip is taking." Twilight said, and Spike glared at her slightly at her comment about his crush. Yet, he did not say anything-as he knew deep down it was true. Flying Battery Zone was sealed of until they could explore it better-as that thing according to Sonic was filled with traps. Sandopolis Zone had the spikes covered in magically created rocks that smashed over them. The infamous temple....was sealed off as Tails huddled in front of it before Fluttershy returned the favor he did earlier by comforting him. She had found the two-tailed fox easy to talk to, and he did not pressure her into talking about things she wasn't comfortable about.

Instead, he had checked out the differences between animals on his old planet and Equestria. Tails had searched over book after book for anyway home, and had broken down and actually shed some tears when he found out Eggman's statement-that they were forever trapped there-was true. After a day, he had returned to his upbeat personality-much to Fluttershy's shock-an had continued his works. There were talks about aircraft he was creating with the princesses to make a way for ponies other than pegasi to defend themselves from airborne threats.

Tails, although generally braver than Fluttershy, had an almost debilitating fear of lightning and ghosts-the lightning most likely reminding his subconscious mind of the attack that took his parent's lives minutes after he was born.

After an hour delay where Tails gathered his courage to move on-where they found another entryway to the Lava Reef Zone outside of the Temple-in Red Mountain. It took Sonic's quick reactions, Shadows Chaos Powers, AND Luna and Twilight's magical prowess to enter the Lava Reef Zone, so it was safe to assume that nothing other that the beings who knew it and dragons would be able to get to it. Since the Sky Sanctuary Zone was mostly inaccessible others outside of flying an the Hidden Palace Zone (which was locked to anyone not of the same blood as Knuckles' Tribe), they did not bother with the Sky Sanctuary Zone other than a "no flying" spell over the area.

When the got to the Lava Reef Zone however....Spike's lone organic eye widened and his jaw dropped and he actually started drooling. Many lava pools had hardened and cooled off enough to walk on, so they got rid of the spikes and platforms-replacing them with stairways and bridges. Spike however, was rooted to the spot, his eyes taking in the sight of the thousands of gems in the Zone and the thousands more developing.

"I think I'm in dragon heaven." Spike said, stepping in a not-yet-hardened magma pool and grabbing a few gems to munch on. Shadow's eyebrow rose at this sight-Spike sitting up to his chest in hot lava eating gems.

"Good thing his metal was made with dragon scales." Sonic said, tapping his foot as the rest of the group finished up fixing the area.

"Spike...." Twilight said, her tone low and warning.

"What? this is the first time I have gotten to truly relax ever since my body became mostly metal!" Spike said.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

By the time they returned, it had been three weeks since Nightmare Night, and they had made a pathway through the tropical forest through Carnival Night Zone to where the stadium would be in the Mushroom Hill Zone. They were instantly greeted by Applejack, Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, and Rarity, who told them about their "adventures" and what they learned about friendship during their time on Angel Island. From the incident between Rarity and Sweetie Bell and the Sisterhooves Social to the time Applebloom with a rare plant which gave her the (now extinct disease) Cutie Pox.

In return, they told them about the sights around Angel Island, and the group talked until the sunset. Princess Luna raised the moon and then gave her goodbyes as she left to return to Canterlot Castle and talk with her sister.

Spike talked to Rarity about the gems in the Lava Reef Zone and she-much to his surprise-actually turned them down. She had quoted that it'd "too bothersome" to get them herself, and that it "wouldn't be fair on him" to have Spike get them for her by flying there and doing all the work.

So for now, Spike had his own personal getaway on Angel Island.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Metal Sonic's red eyes glanced over the forest his hideout was located.

"You were not what I expected to obtain, but until I obtain a few dragons, you will do nicely." He said in a gruff, metallic tone as another metallic figure approached, his red eyes gleaming in the shadows.

"Metal Griffin!"

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The next morning had an unusual wake-up call, as Spike awoke by belching out a letter from his green flames. Shadow caught it and his eyes skimmed over it.

"Message for you from Celestia." Shadow said, handing Twilight the letter.

To my faithful student,

It was nice for Knuckles the Echidna-Guardian of Angel Island-to give his permission to have the summer Equestrian Games on his island. While it was worrying about all of the modifications that had to be done, it should be safe now if we provide security. While I would love to just send a normal letter checking in, I'm afraid this letter has to be about business. While searches have not uncovered the whereabouts of Metal Sonic-and I must admit that it is a very crafty opponent-searches have discovered a changeling plot against Equestria. The leader herself-Queen Chrysalis-is planning to disguise herself as the bride in an upcoming wedding later on this year and lower the barrier around Canterlot to let the changelings in. The wedding happens to be between the Captain of the Royal Guard-and your older brother-Shining Armor and Princess Cadence Mi Amore Cadenza. Until the threat is dealt with, I am sending Princess Cadence to stay with you until the wedding. Luckily she had already set up all the details about the wedding. The reason I am having her stay with you instead of in Canterlot is a few reasons actually. One:you have a personal history with her and-unless I'm mistaken-have a secret greeting between you two. Two: Spike's abilities listed by Tails have a few that would allow him to detect imposters. Finally, Three: your guest-from what I heard from reports from Ponyville-Shadow has combat experience and would be effective at protecting her.

She will be arriving soon after this letter does, and I thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Your mentor, Princess Celestia.

Right after she finished reading this, there was a rapid knocking at the door. Setting the letter down, she gulped and moved to the door....never knowing that this would affect Shadow's and her own life forever.

Author's Note

I noticed a misspelling about Princess Cadence in an earlier chapter, so I will fix it.

The winning pairings are TailsxFluttershy (by a long shot) and ShadowxTwilight (by only two votes)

Shadow will be Pinkie's older brother-like figure to keep them close, however.

Rainbow's new pet: Shadow meets Cadence

So the poll for the "Spike vs Chrysalis" battle is still tied. One-to-one.

It is "Stardust Speedway Metal Sonic Boss Fight" (From Sonic Generations) As choice "S"

Or "Never Let it Go" Metal Sonic Theme (From the Sonic the Fighters arcade) As choice "N"

Anyways, I still have other themes planned out....like when Metal Sonic gets his metallic hands on a full-grown dragon! That situation will be punctuated by the theme that is one of the most famous in the "Sonic 2" Game....The Death Egg Robot!

Anyways, I'm currently working on drawing what Spike looks like as of Chapter 2. I'll put the image up when I'm finished.

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Rainbow Dash sighed as she finally got comfortable on a tree branch. Sonic had already gone off on a run with Scootaloo to help strengthen her wings-by having her fly during the run. It was a peaceful day; the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky-hence why she was napping in a tree.

"HOO!" A loud owl's hoot snapped her from her sleep-like trance and she opened her rose-colored eyes....

To find herself face-to-face with an owl!

"Gah!" She shouted in surprise, jumping backward and falling off the branch; landing face-first on the ground. As she pulled her head up,she heard the familiar laugh of Pinkie Pie and she growled softly to herself and glanced over to see all of her friends.

Twilight had Owliscious, Pinkie Pie had Gummy, Rarity had Opalescence, Fluttershy had Angel Bunny, and Applejack had Winona. Even Tails was there, with a robotic fox-like dog. "Oh hello Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, waving at her.

Rainbow Dash, however, was very confused. Why were all of her friends here with their pets (with the exception of Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles)?

"So....what are all of you doing here?" She asked.

"Oh that's right! You don't know!" Pinkie said, hefting her pet alligator up. "We have a weekly meeting about our pets and talk about our experiences raising them and sharing advice for caring for them."

"You weren't included because....well...you don't have a pet...Sorry..." Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash, however, took this as a challenge. "Well then, I'll just have to get a pet!" She said, and Fluttershy's eyes widened in excitement and joy.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Red eyes stared at purple, the former rarely blinking as the owner sized up the owner of the later. Shadow the Hedgehog stared at Princess Cadence Mi Amore Cadenza, silently taking in her appearance. She was lithe, with a pink coat and a purple mane and tail with pink and yellow stripes. Her dress parted slightly at her hips, giving glances at the blue crystal heart for her cutie mark.

Princess Cadence was slightly unnerved by his expressionless stare. She was used to being given looks of lust, greed, and/or awe. In her fiance's case, looks of love were not uncommon, but never this emotionless glance. She could feel his emotions...barely. He had curiosity, mild-humor from her "greeting" with Twilight, and she could feel his friendship with Tails, Sonic, and Knuckles and his budding friendship and appreciation for Twilight and Spike....all wrapped up under anger, frustration, and irritation. He was...different.

He also had the mostly-white jet shoes with black around the ankles and red around the bottom, smoke-grey pants and a grey shirt, where white tufts of fur jetted out near his chest by the buttons. A black and red wrist-guard was behind each Inhibitor Ring on his wrist and white gloves were on his hands. He had large eyes with red irises and tan skin around his muzzle. There were red markings around the upper corners of his eyes and his six quills had red stripes on them,standing out from his black fur.

"Well....at least I know you're a nice guy...I can at least feel your friendship with the three others from your world...and with Twilight." Cadence said, trying to get him to say something. At this his scowl deepened.

"She needs to become stronger and more capable at defending herself before I can become openly friendly." He said, "They need to be strong to be my friends."

Once again, Cadence found herself surprised at these words. She had felt...pain...when he said that. Her horn started to glow in a sky-blue aura as she approached him-gently placing her horn on his head.

"Why?" She said, as the aura surrounded them both, "Show me."

With that, Shadow was forced to relive memories he had put behind him...for the most part.

The capsule opened as Shadow dropped from it and opened his eyes. They first fell on a portly man in a white laboratory outfit with an impressive white mustache,his eye covered by glasses. Next to him was a girl in a dark-blue blouse and a light-blue dress. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, and was smiling gently.

"It actually worked!" The man said in an aged, yet energetic voice, 'Project:SHADOW' is nearly complete!"

"Project:SHADOW?" Shadow asked,and the older man gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Shadow, my son, 'Project:SHADOW' is a project to create the Ultimate Life-Form...in more ways than one. My grand-daughter, Maria, has a rare illness where she cannot be exposed to the germs on the planet below or she would die. Oh she longs to see the world below, but until research is finished, she cannot." At this, the man sighed. "The military wanted a peacekeeping weapon, but you are more than that. You could be a living cure! Your genes could cure Maria of her illness when research is finished. Of course, you'll have to learn to control your power, but I would like Maria to have a friend she could talk to."

Weeks turned into months, and months into a year, and Shadow found himself opening up to Maria's kind-hearted personality. They would gaze at the planet below Space Colony ARK and ponder what the surface had. They would share their worries, fears, and uncertainties. Then...one day....IT happened.

The military from the planet below grew more fearful of Shadow's progressing skills-unbeknownst to the people of the Space Colony ARK, and the development of the planet-destroying Eclipse Cannon did not help those fears. The day came where the military decided to shut down the ARK....forcefully. A large military force entered the ARK, capturing or killing the researchers. Seeing the danger, Shadow grabbed Maria's hand and ran down the hallways, both of them wide-eyed in terror as three armed soldiers chased after them. They came into a capsule room, where Shadow started prepping a capsule to send her safely to the planet below. However, when he tried to bring her to it, she fooled him and dropped a capsule around him. As she prepped it for launch...the three soldiers entered the room.

"She's activating the experiment!" One shouted, as the one in the middle pulled out a metal, "L" shaped object and pulled a trigger, a loud flash emitting from it with a sound similar to thunder. Maria suddenly jerked forwards and fell to the ground with a loud cry.

"MARIA!!!!!" Shadow shouted.

"Shadow...please...help me..." She said while reaching up to the lever. "All those who live on the planet below" She gasped out, "Give them...a chance.....to be happy....Shadow, I beg of you."

"Maria!" He shouted, pounding on the glass of the escape capsule.

She pulled down the lever, launching the capsule to the planet below, her last words somehow reaching him. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog..."

Princess Cadence gasped loudly as she pulled back, the aura fading. She knew-somehow-that she had just witnessed the murder of his first (and at the time-only) friend. Such memories were the stuff of nightmares for any other pony, and yet she never heard about Princess Luna needing to help him.

"I've put my past behind me." Shadow said, turning to gaze out the window.

"Not entirely" She said, causing Shadow to turn and face her.

"The fact you feel your friends need to be strong. You subconsciously want that...horrible event...to never happen again." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I am the Princess of Love...a emotion you've never felt like you use to with your friend a long time ago. IF you could find the magic of friendship and love, you could move on...and not bottle up your emotions-which would destroy you in the end."

"And WHO would I have a relationship with?" Shadow said, raising an eyebrow, "In case you don't know, I'M the Ultimate Life-Form. My body hasn't aged a DAY since my creation! Why would I put myself through those emotions only to outlive her?"

"That's the very question all Alicorns ask themselves. Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna are over a thousand years old...we Alicorns stop aging once we reach a certain age...and yet...I'm getting married to a Unicorn, Twilight's older brother!"

Shadow said nothing, he just kept he eyebrow raised.

"Oh, by the way...I used to be a mere Pegasus...I got Celestia's attention through an exceptionally heroic act." She said, turning to gaze out the window before saying one last thing.

"Twilight is Aunt Celestia's prized student....just....something to think about."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rainbow Dash was not having a great time right now. In fact, she was genuinely afraid for her life. She had narrowed it down between a few fast birds.....and a tortoise that would not stay away regardless of how many times she dismissed him. To determine which one would be her pet, all of them would race through ghastly gorge with her. It had been going fine at first, with the hawk in the lead.

It had all gone downhill when a rock-slide occurred in the middle of the race. A rock had hit her in the head, knocking her out without the birds knowing-continuing on without her. She had awakened to continue on,only to find a large boulder she could not lift on her left wing-trapping her there and breaking the bones in it. Now, all she had for company was the very tortoise she dismissed as "uncool" trying (unsuccessfully) to push the boulder off her wing.

"Go on. We both know I'm going to die here." She said, urging the tortoise to continue his travels, only for him to shake his head and continue pushing the boulder.

The boulder was suddenly lifted and a very familiar voice called out "No one is dying if I can help it!" She stood up-trying not to move her broken wing-to gaze at Sonic holding up the boulder with both hands, Scootaloo on her scooter-having brought it with her-behind him.

"Time to rock and roll!" He said, suddenly curling into a ball and spinning-launching through the boulder and uncurling once he got through it and pushing off it-the impact shattering it.

"So...awesome...." Rainbow whispered as she lifted the tortoise up.

"Well then" Sonic said, picking up Rainbow Dash and angling her as to not aggravate her wing, "Best get going before your friends do think you're dead!" With that he ran off at an above-average speed...slow for Sonic.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sonic and Rainbow Dash arrived at the finish line just as their friends were about to go search for them. "Well, the Hawk won...." Fluttershy said, "And you did say you wanted the one who won the race."

"I did...but when I was trapped there, none of them could hear me...only this tortoise stayed behind to help...I'm the Element of Loyalty. Loyalty is a thing I value greatly...so I'm sorry, but I have to pick this tortoise.

The hawk nodded, used it's wing to shake the tortoise's front-leg, and slumped over.

Sonic saw this and shrugged "Well, I think the hawk is cool." Before anyone could blink, the hawk was perched on him proudly.

"I think you just got a pet, Sonic." Pinkie Pie giggled out.

"Well then...I guess I'll just name him...." As Sonic thought, memories of a group of three birds riding Extreme Gear entered his mind. "Babylon." He finished.

"This tortoise here is solid...like a Tank! I'll call him Tank....but I live in a cloud house...how will he fly?" Rainbow Dash said as Twilight grinned.

"I have an idea!"

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As Twilight and the others entered the library, she did her custom greeting with Princess Cadence. "Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybirds awake. Clap you hands and do a little shake!"

Shadow smirked slightly at this, chuckling to himself in a corner.

As Rainbow Dash narrated out her friendship report for Princess Celestia-her wing already bandaged from a quick visit to the hospital-Sonic nodded slightly.

"So basically, Don't judge a book by it's cover." Sonic said, as Twilight equipped a magic-powered helicopter blade to Tank's back, strapping it to his shell.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash said, before glancing at her bandaged wing itself. "I just wish I didn't have to break my wing to learn it.

Author's Note

I recently found out Jananimations got a "Cease and Desist" from Hasbro. This sucks, as before I joined the MLP fandom, I was teetering at the edge and "Button's Adventures" was a thing I enjoyed greatly and pushed me over-along with "Doctor Whooves". (I'm a big Doctor Who fan)

To find him forced to close off Pony animations was a blow-I can understand Hasbro having to defend their products, but "Button's Adventures" was one of the most HARMLESS part of the fandom (I've seen WAY worse...and it scares me!)

Jananimations has stated (after the got permission to re-upload "Don't Mine At Night" and "Picture Perfect Pony") that he has finished making MLP animations for good-as he wants to work at DHX or Hasbro in the future so he just quit...

A sad thing I heard was that "Hasbro doesn't hire fan animators", so he loses on that account. He did state at the end of the videos that Hasbro owned the characters (I researched Button Mash...they named him "High Score"...although I didn't see a name until after "Button's Adventures" started...even though Jananimations flashed him out more after his appearance...which lasted what...two seconds?)

I don't blame the company (completely)-after all a high-ranking individual did what he could to get him to reupload those two videos.

I blame relatively "loose" copyright laws and the Legal Department at Hasbro-which was said to "have acted without contacting the other departments" The legal department in their "C&D" DIDN'T EVEN SPELL SCOOTALOO (a character they DO own) RIGHT.

I haven't bought Hasbro items, because, well, there was a way to handle that better than "pissing off most of the fandom".

A similar thing happened to Bungie and Mircosoft after their "HALO" series started. A small internet company called "RoosterTeeth" used the game's multiplayer mode-made characters, and voice acted the characters. With that, they created a popular series called "Red vs. Blue".

While the companies were VERY within their rights to "C&D" RoosterTeeth, they didn't.

Instead, they gave RoosterTeeth a "limited license" , which allowed them to continue "Red vs. Blue" while they controlled the trademark and more people (myself included) were introduced to "HALO" through it. (I even allowed RoosterTeeth to sell DVDs of "Red vs Blue" and T-shirts of it...while some of the profits of it go to the Microsoft and Bungie /now 343Industries/..a branch that split from Bungie and continued the HALO series.)

Let's say Hasbro did what Bungie and Mircosoft did with Jananimations. If they had, they could put their license on the characters, and review the animations before they air. Jananimations would work closely with Hasbro-giving him an "in" with the company (a place he said he'd like to work at) for a future job.

If anyone wants to send my idea of a "solution" to Hasbro and the person (I can't remember his name, but he's awesome!) who looked into the situation, go ahead! I'd rather see a solution that works for everyone and puts Hasbro in a more-positive light with the MLP fans....

After all, HALO and Red vs. Blue are still working well today, subtle "easter eggs" of Red vs. Blue are worked into the game and Red vs. Blue advertises the HALO games. It's a win-win!

(I'm posting this author's note here and now because:

a) I don't have a YouTube account so I can't spread it at "the source of the conflict"

b) Because I don't have a YouTube account, I just recently found out though it happened on March 21st of this year

c) There's a divide amongst fans between "blame and hate Hasbro", "Blame the laws", and "don't blame anyone". I'd like to remind MLP fans that-unless they sell the series to another company, if Hasbro dies then MLP dies as well! I'd like a solution that eases tension between the MLP fans and the company personally.

Spike's Birthday

Well, after being tied for so long, the song poll has ended...with Choice S being the winner!

Now viewers, I have a serious question. I have planned boyfriends of all the "Mane 6"....EXCEPT PINKIE PIE! All I have are rumors of her getting a coltfriend in Season 5....but I want the readers to answer....

Should Pinkie be included with Twilight and Shadow? If yes (because of his dark past), I will include another mare with Spike and Rarity....his old Canterlot crush....Moondancer! Which signifies his past and present. Canterlot and Ponyville.

Okay....after that...I was on YouTube earlier....and found a musical parody of "Sonic Heroes"....THIS is what happens when-like the MLP cast-Sonic characters randomly break out in song....and it includes a new character in this story from the Sonic series to show that not all robots are evil....E-123 OMEGA!

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Things had been quiet since Rainbow had been temporarily grounded by a broken wing. Rarity and Spike had traveled to Canterlot and met up with a well-known high-society Unicorn named Fancy Pants. He had been a casual acquaintance of Spike and had looking for Spike to check in with him since the....incident...that changed him. Nothing too much had changed, except his body now matched his mental age....and...as he put it, his "pony heart still beat within his body of metal".

Fancy then pointed out the inaccuracy of his statement...literally, by pointing at the non-metal organic sections of his original aged body.

Meeting up with him while he was traveling with Rarity was actually a good thing for her. As an aspiring dressmaker, she needed an "in" with her target audience, and befriending Fancy Pants was just what she needed to do....

After making sure Fluer Dis Lee did not mistake her actions for trying to come between her and Fancy.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The accident resulting in a new pet and a broken wing also put Rainbow's vision of herself into perspective, and slightly toned down her bragging. After all, a hedgehog who also boasted about super speed was able to destroy a boulder with a spin-dash...a boulder that she herself could not budge.

It was actually slightly depressing to think about.

Sonic himself was the solution to her own self-doubt, as he swore that he'd help her improve her skills. He had done the same for Tails, so why not her?

Gilda's injuries were healing nicely, but her landing had her still left in a coma...but the doctors estimated that she would awaken in a few months...after Hearts and Hooves Day.

Tails had met up with Fluttershy, continuing with his study of the animals of Equestria. It had been shocking when Tails revealed that he and the others from his planet were omnivores-which meant they ate both meat and plants-but this was quickly shook off by Fluttershy. She herself had dealt with omnivores, such as foxes (ironically enough) and bears. To Fluttershy's surprise, Tails could be surprisingly bashful. In a way, his personality reminded her of a way more confident version of herself.

Many questions had been raised about Sonic and the other's past, and-rather than repeat themselves-Tails had decided an interesting way to reveal their past....by looking at Equestria's video-game technology, Tails had been developing the Ponygame Genesis (Tribute to the first game system I played...a SEGA Genesis). It would be a breakthrough, using a system that connected to the television in the homes of different ponies and using a disc to read it (like modern systems).

Sonic's first adventure-SONIC 1-would be released when the system was done.

Knuckles the Echidna was adapting to his new life very well. Sure, at first he needed a few lessons on controlling his immense strength from Applejack herself-as his punches had knocked down a few trees-but once that was done he was "an efficient applebucker" as Applejack put it, rivaling her own abilities. The two often got into competitions on who could fill up the most baskets, and actually enjoyed their friendly competition.

Shadow the Hedgehog, much to Twilight's delight, had been immensely curious about Equestria and his sharp mind could let the two get into interesting debates about things-past military tactics, old pony's tales, their fear of the unknown and unexpected (which, as a being with access to the limitless power of the Chaos Pool, Shadow found utterly stupid), and their lack of knowledge of other species-such as dragons.

Shadow pointed out that they didn't have to actually talk to wild dragons to observe their behavior, which had Twilight face palming.

Twilight matched his curiosity of Equestria with her own curiosity of his own world. To her shock, it was widely inhabited with a species that only existed in pony mythology-humans.....which meant she now owed Lyra 20 bits. However, unlike the ponies, humans did not naturally have super powers and relied more on their mind and ingenuity to survive. Civilizations were actually built by all the different species-hedgehogs, echidnas, foxes, squirrels, humans, and other species that developed sentience.

She was also curious about Shadow himself and-with his permission-performed a few tests on him (non-harmful, of course). To her shock, his supposedly "one" eye with two pupils was actually two eyes connected by a membrane that extended his range of vision. This was also true about Sonic and Knuckles. She then tried the output of his power.

The machine she had him standing in actually cracked when he stood in it from his power output. After that, she wisely decided not to repeat the test without his Inhibitor Rings. He had then answered.....after much thinking....questions he found rather...personal. (I had to use ask.com and the wiki to find the answers.)

When was his birthday? June 19th.

What was his favorite food? He liked pomegranate juice with pulp, and honey-nut cereals. He also had a fondness for giant, swirled cherry lollipops since it was something that his first friend-Maria-had always given him....he also developed a liking to something called "Swiss Rolls"...which he joked sounded like control....chaos control, chaos Swiss roll...it had been something Sonic had done as a joke but ended up as a food he enjoyed occasionally.

When not answering questions the other hand, the two also bonded with a shared love of a nice, quiet activity....reading. The books about Starswirl the Bearded were something Shadow enjoyed, as the unicorn was developing time-travel spells.

Not that he'd tell Twilight yet, but with two Chaos Emeralds touching each other,Chaos Control could allow the user to travel through time. However, it did not travel through dimensions. Shadow was worried that Twilight would drive herself crazy trying to learn Chaos Control if she found out.

And for some strange reason, a brown Earth Pony came up to him and shook his hand for that decision.

Cadence was often sitting in these discussions and was smiling softly at the interaction. It had taken a while, but Shadow was opening up and adapting to his new home. He did admit that he was worried about his home-which was forever out of his reach-but wasn't too worried. There were friends Sonic had who often helped him...and if things got too rough, a hedgehog from another dimension named Silver would show up.

A final surprise during the time Rainbow was grounded was an old friend of Shadow turning up. An abandoned Eggman robot who-because of his abandonment-turned against his creator and worked for the government. E-123 Omega.

Omega was mostly red with black sections-such as his shoulders,with the left shoulder having a red Omega symbol. He had been in Angel Island-near where the ponies met up with the Sonic Team-but had been roughed up by Metal Sonic to prevent him from interfering with Eggman's plans to the point where Omega was disabled and unable to move until recently.

Tails had fixed him up and Omega proved himself to be highly analytic and questioning, but would help others to succeed in his mission. Two members of Team Dark had now reunited, however the third would be out of their reach for all eternity.

Before I move on, here's a picture of Omega

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A few weeks after that, Rainbow's wing cast finally came off and she gingerly exercised the wing until she could perform all of her old tricks and reach her old speed without pain. After this, Sonic started working with her running with her and increasing her speed. With the Sonic Rainboom, she could reach Mach 1....now thanks to Sonic's help her Sonic Rainboom instantly accelerated her to Mach 2. She could now keep up with Spike....yet Sonic could still match her speed running backwards.

She at least was proud of her title of "fastest flier in Equestria". As Sonic pointed out, he didn't have wings, so he couldn't be a flyer. Tails could only reach near Mach 1, and Spike could only reach his top speed on the ground, as flying slowed him to Mach 1.

It was just in time for Spike's birthday. At first Twilight was hesitant, having read about the dragon's greed and confirming about it with Zecora. Shadow then pointed out that most dragons were not "2/3rd s robot" and that the greed growth would most likely be "considered a weakness" and would have been "deleted by Metal Sonic" during the changes. That's why Spike, Twilight, and Shadow were hanging decorations for Spike's birthday party tomorrow.

Spike had found a rare Fire Ruby and had shaped it to gain the most flavor-and yet he kept the shards of the ruby. As they were setting up decorations the day before the party, Rarity had come in to check on a few things and spotted the ruby.

With Twilight not knowing how rare that gem was, Spike listened into Rarity's description of the precious jewel and discovered that she could find a greater use in it than it being a snack.

Leaping down from the ladder, Spike spun-dash as he landed to absorb the blow before standing up and walking over to it.

"Here. You have it." Spike said, placing it in her hand.

"B-but Spike...haven't you been shaping it for weeks? Why are you just giving it to me?" She said, trying to hand back the gem.

"Because you can find a greater purpose than it being a snack." Spike said, picking up a new decoration, "Besides, I think it'll look good on you."

"You....you most generous drake!" She said, prancing over and kissing him on the side of his muzzle. "I'll see you tomorrow on your birthday...Spikey-Wikey."

Spike raised his metal hand to the left side of his muzzle-where she had kissed him as she briskly walked to her home. "I guess I can just use the shards on my slice of cake."

Shadow walked up next to him, a corner of his mouth lifted up into an amused smirk. "Spikey-Wikey? You're really going to let her call you that?"

"You let Pinkie Pie and Twilight call you Shad." Spike retorted.

"At least Shad doesn't sound as childish as Spikey-Wikey". Shadow said.

"Touche." Spike said, before climbing back up the ladder and hanging the last of the decorations for his party.

"Well, that only took....half the day. It goes by much faster with three ponies instead of two." Twilight said.

As Spike wandered off to the kitchen...a dreamy look on his face, Shadow stopped Twilight.

"One second Twilight. Since when does the person having the birthday hang the decorations to their own party?" He asked, "Couldn't we have gotten Cadence to help?"

This revelation had Twilight Sparkle once again slapping her own head at the true fact. Pinkie was an exception because she always threw parties for everypony.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next day, and the stupid grin had not left Spike's face. His party, which would occur around lunch, was only hours away and Shadow found himself feeling anxious at the thought of being in a room full of ponies-even if he knew them. Even Sonic's birthday had been held outdoors. The room it was being held in did not have a lot of dark corners for him to seclude himself in.

"Feeling anxious, Shadow?" Cadence asked.

"What? How did you?" Shadow asked.

"Being the Princess of Love let's me feel the emotions of those around me." Cadence explained...."And I think Twilight's getting a crush on you, if it makes you feel better."

Shadow's face took on a mixed expression. Part of it looked happy that somepony relatively normal liked him...and it wasn't someone with an obsession to the point of stalking. On the other hand...there was always the fact he would outlive her.

Cadence seemed to notice his discomfort and pointed to her engagement ring on her left ring finger-reminding Shadow of the fact an Alicorn was marrying a Unicorn. He would not be shown up! He was the Ultimate Life-Form! Fears were beneath him! But how would he actually....dare he say...date Twilight Sparkle.

"Hearts and Hooves day is in a couple months. It's a day where couples new and old get together for romantic outings. Before you ask, no I'm not psychic. I just sensed your confusion." Cadence said and Shadow frowned.

That emotion-sensing would be great at sensing any of those "changling" things after her...which may be why the changling Queen wanted to impersonate her....but then again it had been a great invasion of his privacy lately. But still....he'd beat that faker Sonic and be the first one at having what the locals called a "special somepony".

That's when the door swung open and a sing-song voice called out "I'm here~!"

In the doorway was Rarity, in a purple dress with a wrapped gift under his right arm and a golden necklace that had the Fire Ruby resting right above her generous bust. The dress was obviously something designed to showcase her beauty. However, Twilight definitely recalled that she did not often use purple in her dresses....especially a shade that matched her number one assistant's scales...

At this revelation, Twilight gazed upon her friend who was setting down Spike's present and was greeting the birthday colt in a overly-friendly style, grins never leaving either face. "But Spike, are you sure you'll be fine? That last dragon the girls and I met was so selfish. I couldn't bear the thought of unintentionally turning such a sweet gentledrake into something so...uncouth." Rarity said, inspecting Spike.

"Don't worry about that. The draconic greed growth was labeled a weakness and deleted by Metal Sonic himself...I guess there's something to be thankful to him for." Spike said, rubbing his hear where his three hedgehog-like spines sat.

"You shouldn't say something like that." Rarity said, frowning as her fingers over his metal chest, lingering on his turbine that was used to increase his speed.

As others finally filtered into the Golden Oaks Library during this talk, Rainbow and Sonic exchanged knowing smirks.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Cake had been cut-with Spike placing his meager shards from the Fire Ruby on it,to which Rarity's hand drifted onto the actual gemstone with a small smile on her face. Spike had opened his presents. Many of them had been something simple-like a book from Twilight, a Gem-kabob and handmade bow-tie from Rarity, blanket from Applejack, and dumbbell from Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie had brought the cake...and then had given him scale and metal polish-saying her "pinkie sense" told her that he'd need it in the future. Shadow had given him a slip of paper saying that his "true" present from him would be given later after the guests had left....and it had the diagram of Shadow's signature attack: Chaos Spear. Knuckles had the same kind of mindset as Rainbow Dash and had given him some more workout equipment. Cadence had given him reservations to a nice restaurant on Hearts and Hooves Day for two...with a small smile. Sometimes, being a princess worked in your favor. E-123 Omega had gone he same route as Twilight...a book....on fixing problems in robots.

Spike had been extremely grateful to everypony. To him, these weren't just birthday presents. They were signs that he actually belonged....that his change did not change their views of him.

The final gift was from both Sonic and Tails. Tails announced that he figured out how to recreate a naturally re-occurring object in their old world, and he Sonic had already testing the first copy of what lied within the present. Naturally, this got the ponies curious. As Spike opened the box, and were greeted with the sight of a golden ring glowing with brilliant yellow light. Sonic also appologized for Scootaloo, who was unable to attend the party due to a school project. She had, however, sent her gift-a small charm for his wrist-with Sonic.

"This is a Power Ring. It gives the user temporary power and speed boost before it runs out of power and dissipates into energy." Tails said.

"You might want to store it for now...no telling when that will need to be used." Sonic said.

With a nod, it was seemingly suck into the turbine. "Ring stored in storage, putting access on stand-by." Spike said as the party really got into motion.

As Applejack and Knuckles, Rarity, as well as Rainbow Dash and Sonic wandered off quickly to their homes, Tails and Fluttershy lingered little while before heading to Fluttershy's cottage. As they walked, a branch snapping startled Fluttershy and she jumped and grasped onto Tails. Blushing slightly at the contact, Tails returned the hug until she calmed down, and they flew off towards the cottage in order to get there faster. As they disappeared from sight, Metal Sonic emerged from the foliage, his glowing red eyes locked onto Tails. Only five words echoed from him as he disappeared back into the trees.

Life form data......Successfully copied.

Author's Note

Metal Sonic has now started to "scan and copy" the abilities of his enemies! The danger level is rising!

And the heroes don't even know about Metal Sonic's army

Be sure to tell me what your ideas on the question I asked earlier.....

Return to Ponyville-a lesson about appearances

The next day, Celestia stood with Luna and Blueblood, a hand on Spike's shoulder as they faced multiple reporters.

"If it wasn't for the timely intervention of Sonic the Hedgehog and Shaodw the Hedgehog, I'm afraid Metal Sonic may have succeeded. As for now, Metal Sonic for his actions against Prince Spike-my adopted son, is declared an enemy of Equestria. However, one must exercise caution in approaching it. It is heavily armed, can move extremely fast, and-from our information-can flawlessly use any ability it has seen by 'copying' it." She said, as camera flashes went off and multiple questions came from the crowd of reporters at the same time. They had come from everywhere-Appleossa, Canterlot, Ponyville, even Manehattan for starters!

Spike gazed at the crowd, worry etching his face as he gazed upon his metal arm. At first, he thought it had been a bad dream, before he heard the whirling of machines as he stood up and saw the changes. He had been avoiding his friends because of it-especially his crush. They would never understand how much pain he felt as flesh was torn apart and replaced with cold metal. Metal Sonic...not only had he brought forth the wrath of Celestia, but also Luna, Sonic, and even Shadow-whom he had seen walking along the castle with his quills glowing red in barely suppressed rage. He had ever vowed to "Tear off Metal Sonic's arms and legs one-by-one before ripping his accursed head off his body and tossing it into the deepest body of water he could find".

After Shadow vowed this in front of everyone, he had walked out to the courtyard before a shout of "CHAOS BLAST!" was heard and an explosion happened in it, leaving a gaping crater and burning plants where Shadow had stood while he looked upon the damage indifferently.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow had gotten their new outfits. After seeing Shadow's...."outburst"....and since Spike was avoiding them Rarity seemed to have plenty of extra time, though this irritated her for some reason. Sonic's was a simple cyan sports pants and white T-shirt, with holes for his spines. Knuckles had blue jeans and a black tank top-it was obvious that he spent most of his time outside. Tails was the most formal of the four-with a button-up sky-blue shirt and black pants. Shadow had smoke-grey sports pants and a formal grey shirt-with holes for his spines.

They had been very pleased with the outfits-and now had multiple copies of it. As Rainbow Dash wandered around the castle, she passed by a cloud outside a window and spotted something....blue. Pausing in her tracks, she tunerd to see Sonic sleeping on a cloud.

"What?!" She said, opening the window and rubbing her eyes, "But only pegasi and alicorns can walk on clouds without the help of magic!"

"I know the wind really well." She heard Sonic say, as he opened an eye. As Rainbow Dash flew up to find a cloud of her own, Sonic sat up and seemingly fluffed the cloud slightly.

"So...Sonic...you said you loved adventures?" Rainbow Dash asked, after setting up the cloud she got next to his, "and just who is this Doctor Eggman you spoke about."

"Ah...well, it all started eleven year ago, when a man named Doctor Ivo Robotnik started to use small woodland animals to power his robots....." Sonic said, and the two got lost in tales of the past, of robots and journeys in space to determine the fate of a world and the two started getting closer, as Rainbow Dash told her tales-of Nightmare Moon, a dragon, small creatures called parasprites, the Sonic Rainboom, and a God of Disharmony and Anarchy.

"Agh!" Rarity shouted in frustration, she had seen Spike, but he had soon vanished using his Mach 2 speed. "I had a PRINCE after ME?! And I didn't know?!" She muttered to herself. 'Then again, you didn't know about that...and didn't he say he didn't want to be revered for his title?' Her own thoughts countered, a little voice in the back of her head that usually helped when designing outfits, 'And why are WE the Element of Generosity. Seems to me that we weren't very generous when it came to Spike. We used him as a pincushin for buck's sake!'

"No wonder he doesn't want to see me." She whispered to himself. 'No....that musn't be it. He's avoiding everyone but his family-even Twilight. It must be his appearance. On and on we go on about perfection, and Spike was marred and...torn apart. Imagine the pain he must have felt, being awake for it.' Her mind spoke, 'The poor darling suffered because of a metal megalomanic!'

Her eyes widened. "Who am I to judge based on appearances? The times I picked based on appearance and status, I've been let down." At this declaration an image of Prince Blueblood came to her mind. "Spike needs the support of his friends during this struggle at this time in his life, and it's my duty as the Element of Generosity to make sure my friends are cared for...his old clothes were torn apart....wait! Idea!" She declared, running off into her room-filled with fabrics and sewing equipment, placing a "do not disturb" sign on the doorknob as she shut the door and locked it.

"Well, I don't know about making clothes, but it is my job to make sure everyone's happy. Oh!Oh!Oh! We never got the party! I could make it a 'Welcome to Equestria!' slash 'Thank you for helping free Spike!' Slash 'cheer up Spike!' party!" A certain pink mare said, bouncing off after she watched Rarity's decree. "Oh I do hope Celestia will agree to my idea!" She said.

"Well, we've had our fair share of adventures, and I doubt I would be the person I am without the help of Sonic." Tails said as he walked in the garden with Fluttershy, working on a watch-shaped device as he spoke, "I met him ten years ago and we quickly became close friends...at times we're more like brothers."

"That's....nice...." Fluttershy said, as a blue bird flew down to perch on her shoulder, and another perched on Tails. "The birds seems to like you."

"Yeah. Sonic and I have experience saving small animals. Doctor Eggman used to use them to power his robots." Tails said, not knowing Fluttershy's love of animals.

"HE WHAT?!!!!!!!!!" That shout scared of every animal in the nearby area.

"Twilight." Shadow asked as he stood in the hallway with his eyes closed, "Is there anyplace I could learn the history of this land?"

"There's a library here and in Ponyville-the library is where Spike and I live." Twilight said, as she paused to look at him with a curious expression. "By the way, you called yourself the Ultimate Life-Form? Why?" She asked.

Shadow closed his eyes as memories flashed in front of his eyes. Space Colony: ARK, Professor Gerald Robotnik,....Maria...

"I am the end result of PROJECT: SHADOW. A project to create the Ultimate Life-Form capable of being used not only as a weapon, but as a living cure for the deathly ill." Shadow said, "Though the later part was never finished."

"Really? If I talk to Celestia about it, do you think you'll allow that project to be competed?" Twilight asked in wonder; a cure for the deathly ill?!

"It....depends on the response of Princess Celestia." Shadow said, before shaking his head, clearing his mind of his memories, and walking off.

'I've left my past behind me.' Shadow thought to himself. 'I am my own person for the first time in my life....Maria...My only friend...who died so that I may live.'

"Spike! I've finished your new outfit!" Rarity called as she levitated a wrapped bundle next to her.

"A new outfit?" Spike asked as he stepped out of the shadows of the castle to face her, his red eye glowing as he stared at her-trying to read her expression.

"Yes! That fiend ripped your old one to shreds, and I think that this new look will suit you" She said as she unwrapped the bundle and Spike pulled them on. There were black dress shorts-since he couldn't war long pants thanks to his metal joints. There was a black open jacket with spiked shoulders and a hole in the back for his turbine. He no longer had a shirt-leaving his chest laser ready to fire. Finally, there was a black belt with a cape attached to his back that went down to his metallic thighs and was attached in two parts at the belt and connected to one piece below his tail.

"I...I don't know what to say, these are awesome!" Spike said, looking over himself. "Analyzing....Clothes are woven with fire-resistant fibers." After he said that, he slammed his right hand over his mouth.

"I am so sorry....the Metal part of me analyzes new things....it...it's actually helpful with some of my old childhood fears having a rational portion that can effectively argue against my fears." Spike said, while the red eye shut off completely.

"Spike! Turn your eye back on!" Rarity scolded, and his eye flared back to life. With that she sighed. "Spike, I know that no one could ever know what you went through....even Royal Guards who lost their limbs, but all of your friends are worried. We know you want some space, but we can't help but worry. I couldn't help but think of what you went through, and I realized that you are afraid of what people will think of your appearance, but that's why Princess Celestia did what she did! You've always thought of yourself as a....monster...for being a dragon, didn't you?"

Spike said nothing, just nodding slightly.

At this she once again sighed, "You are Princess Celestia's son in all but blood. The meeting with the reporters was to show that YOU are her son. You are not a monster, but Prince Spike of Equestria."

Before she could say anything more, Sonic-who had curled into a spiky ball-landed on the ground outside before standing up and brushing himself of, with Rainbow Dash flying down and loudly yelling.

"How are you not hurt from that leap?!"

Sonic just shrugged and simply said "I've had worse."

The train ride back to Ponyville had the group quietly talking within their train car.

"How do your parents feel about you getting into danger so often?" Fluttershy asked, "Celestia knows I'd worry about my foals."

Tails just shrugged "I have no idea. Eggman's forces launched a global takeover minutes after I was born. My parents didn't survive."

Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror before she pulled him close. "Oh you poor thing!"

Shadow was staring out the window, watching the scenery go by and Knuckles was pacing around-glancing in the direction Angel Island occasionally.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash were both napping-showing the others how similar those two were.

Spike was sitting quietly. Every now and then, another passenger would pass through the car and offer their condolences to the dragon, and he would politely accept it, yet he could tell that they were not exactly comfortable with his...altered appearance.

Spike and the others were broken from their thoughts, conversations (or in the cases of the two blue speedsters-naps) when the train jolted to a stop.

"We have arrived at Ponyville station!" A conductor yelled, "if you are disembarking, please do so quickly."

Everyone grabbing their bags (with bags being provided for Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles) and walked out onto the station. Spike stretched out his newly-grown wings and rolled his right shoulder as he went to pick up the other's bags on the station, but was stopped when Twilight's magic held him in place.

"Okay girls" Twilight

A cough from Shadow made Twilight remember their additions to the group.

"And guys" She added, "We need to figure out where everyone will stay. Now Shadow has shown an interest in the history of Equestria, so I could let him stay in a guest room at the Library in the basement.

"Fine with me" Shadow said, "I prefer quiet places."

"T-T-Tails could stay with me. I'm sure Angel Bunny would like another male in the house and I had some more questions for him......if that's okay with you?" Fluttershy said.

Tails nodded. "Fine with me, I'm quite curious about the animal life here and how its different from home."

"I'd offer a guest room at Sugarcube Corner....but it's being prepped as a baby room. Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Cake are going to have some foals." Pinkie Pie said, and the Shadow's ears twitched slightly as he quietly whispered "Chaos help those poor babies who live with Pinkie..."

"Knuckles can stay with me...provided he help out with our apple bucking. Unfortunately I can't just give out free rent." Applejack said, and Knuckles shrugged.

"Hey. It will give me a workout. I'm in. Yeah!" Knuckles said, punching a spiked fist into the air.

"And Sonic will stay with me!" Rainbow Dash said proudly.

"Uh....Rainbow....you house is made of clouds." Twilight pointed out.

"Yeah? I wouldn't have offered had I not seen Sonic nap on one." Rainbow Dash said, "But I will make a stairway for him."

"He WHAT?!" Twilight said, "That isn't possible! Nopony except pegsi and alicorns can walk on clouds!"

"What can I say? I know the wind." Sonic said with a cocky smirk, "now if you all will excuse me I have to take my daily run".

With a blue blur, Sonic was gone-speeding across Ponyville.

"How does he not crash into things?" Twilight asked.

"Good reflexes and eyesight." Tails said.

As three six-year-old fillies said their goodbyes and headed outwards, the small pegasus with orange fur and purple eyes, mane, and tail stopped smiling. She had been orphaned at a young age from a severe illness her parents had and now lived just outside of town at an orphanage. The only thing left from her parents, was a scooter she owned. However, she did not want any pity-hence why she alway said she was heading home and left the orphanage to meet with her friends from school as soon as she could.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, they called themselves. Applebloom was a small earth pony and the sister of Applejack. Sweetie Bell was a small unicorn filly and the sister of Rarity. Finally, she was called Scootaloo. Her wings had not grown properly and had remained small by a small case of malnutrition, and she held her scooter tightly in her hands. Right before she could head home, a blue blur flew right over her and stopped dead a few inches away.

The figure had spines on him and was bipedal like ponies, yet he was clearly not a pony.

"What're you doing out here?" The figure asked, turning to reveal green eyes.

"Heading home." Scootaloo said quickly.

"Oh really. I've already been all across Ponyville, and the only thing in the direction you're going is the orphanage." As soon as those words left his mouth Scootaloo's eyes widened in horror.

"PLEASE don't tell anyone! I....I don't want my friends to feel sorry for me..." She said quietly.

"I'll tell you a secret. My best buddy's an orphan, and he's saved MY life more than once. Your life is what you make of it....though judging by your wings you might not be getting enough nutrients. It's decided! I'll take you out to a nice meal." He said, "I've gotten some money from helping out another friend of mine. I might as well put it to a good use."

"Really mister?" The young Pegasus filly asked.

"Don't call me mister! I'm not old yet! My name's Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" He said, "and you are?"

"S-Scootaloo." She said quietly.

"Well, I do have some stories I could tell you from back home. I'm sure that I can pull off a little...magic...to fix your wings." When he said the word "magic" he pulled out the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Wow...." Scootaloo said, eyes widening in awe as she saw that large gem appear as if from nowhere.

"Now, where is a good restaurant in town?" Sonic asked, as he walked with the filly, tossing and catching the Chaos Emerald.

"Where did Sonic run off to?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew across town. "Grr....if he wasn't so awesome I'd slap him upside the head for this!"

Right after she said this, she saw a blue hedgehog walking with a young pegaus filly enter a restaurant. "Found you!" She said, landing.

She entered the dining facility to see Scootaloo run off to the bathroom and Sonic holding the Chaos Emerald.

"Okay...she's suffering from malnutrition judging by her wings from what Rainbow Dash told me about Pagasi." Sonic said and Rainbow Dash wanted to slap herself in the forehead for never noticing what was happening to her "number-one fan".

"Don't let me down." Sonic said, holding the emerald over Scootaloo's food. "You are called a miracle gem...." With that, the Chaos Emerald started glowing brightly for a few seconds.

"Sonic." Rainbow Dash said, after the emerald stopped glowing and he tucked it away, "Thank goodness I've found you. I already set up the stairway."

"Sorry about that." Sonic said, "But you may have to set up another guest room....I'm thinking of adopting Scootaloo."

"You just met her!" She said, astonished.

"Yeah...I met Tails at age 8 and pretty much raised him like my younger brother...and that was without a steady income. It'll pretty much be the same. Tails can take care of himself and...well, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't like not being needed. I've been fighting evil and injustice for so long I just can't stop not helping people...er...ponies in need." Sonic explained , "And this way I can make sure she gets enough nutrients in her food."

Right after he said that, the food arrived, with Scootaloo arriving a split second later.

"Uh Sonic...what are you eating?" Scootaloo asked.

"Carrot dog with bean chili and cheese....seemed like the closest thing to a chili dog I could get here!"

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo looked at each other at the....strange...choice of food, before Scootaloo's eyes widened in realization.

"RAINBOW DASH!" She said in excitement. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Sonic here's rooming with me. I've seen him walk on the clouds." At these words the pegasus filly went starry-eyed.

"And he's not even a pegasus!"

By now, Sonic had already finished his food while Scootaloo just started hers.

Putting some bits on the table, Sonic asked "Hey Dash, can you watch this table while I run out to do a quick...errand? If they ask for it, the bits are on the table-including tip."

With that, Sonic once again vanished in a blue blur.

Scootaloo looked up from her food at that. "He's fast! he might almost be as fast as you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow sighed. "As much as it pains me to say it...he's....faster. He was recorded moving faster than the speed of light."

At those words, Scootaloo's fork fell from her hands onto her plate. "Wow...."

Right as she reached for her fork, the blue blur appeared again and was once again sitting at the table.

"Done!" He said proudly handing a piece of paper to Scootaloo.

"C...certificate of....adoption...." She said with wide eyes and trembling hands. "Y...you want...me? As your daughter?"

"Well why not? We both love speed and action!" With those words the young pegasus launched herself at him, crying into him while repeatedly saying "thank you!" (before you ask, I have an idea for cutie marks for ALL of the CMC)

Spike on the other hand, stood staring at the door of the Golden Oaks Library. Shadow was looking at him with a raised eyebrow and Twilight was looking at him with uncertainty.

"It feels...odd..to be here after what happened." Spike said, and Shadow nodded. He knew what it was like to return to an abandoned Space Colony: ARK after the last time he saw it the colony had been bustling with activity.

"Spike, man. We heard what happened." A seven year old unicorn colt standing next to another one said, gazing upon the metal sections of Spike's body.

"It was....painful..." Spike said, as the unicorn colts-Snips and Snails-walked off and other inhabitants of Ponyville came up to talk to him. There was the....eccentric...time keeper of Ponyville Doctor Whooves with Derpy-the town's mailmare flying just behind him. Spike didn't understand half the things-at first-Whooves was saying until his "Metal" side translated it.

Lyra Heartsrings and Bon-Bon quickly offered their condolences to Spike, with Lyra having to be dragged away from an annoyed Shadow. She had seen the "strange creature" and started to investigate.

Mayor Mare was polite with her talks, but she couldn't stay long either since she had a job running the town.

Miss Cherillee was nice...though she got angry at the mere thought of someone doing the things done to him to an innocent "pony...err...dragon." By the time it was all said and done Miss Cherillee was heading home to update the school's security plan and Spike was more confused than anything.

"They....accepted me?" Spike asked when they finally got through the door.

"You've always been part of the town ever since we stopped Nightmare Moon" Twilight said, "Even if you're Princess Celestia's son, the town is taking it as an attack on one of their own."

"I...I have a lot to process." Spike said as he headed off to the upstairs guest room-which was now his room since he outgrew his old bed.

Before I forget, the shoulders of Spike's jacket and the belt-cape combination come from Neo Metal Sonic's design in "Sonic Heroes", shown below.

Author's Note

The poll for Shadow's pairing is still open

(A Shadow+Twilight- currently winning. or B Shadow+Pinkie)

However, the poll for Tails is closed, with over 90% of voters saying Tails+Fluttershy